


Vouch

by seanmacguire



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Bisexual Pidge | Katie Holt, Child Abuse, Foster Care, Gay Keith (Voltron), Hurt Keith (Voltron), Keith & Pidge (Voltron) are Adopted Siblings, Keith & Pidge | Katie Holt Friendship, Keith (Voltron) Angst, Keith (Voltron) Needs a Hug, Keith (Voltron) is Bad at Feelings, M/M, Orphan Keith (Voltron), Protective Adam (Voltron), Protective Lance (Voltron), Protective Shiro (Voltron), Season/Series 07, Self-Esteem Issues, Supportive Parents Adam & Shiro, Trans Keith (Voltron), season 7
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-15
Updated: 2018-10-30
Packaged: 2019-06-27 21:55:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 29
Words: 37,406
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15694131
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seanmacguire/pseuds/seanmacguire
Summary: Keith is a troubled kid when Shiro first meets him. Spending years in the system growing up with Pidge, the two know that the Garrison is their best chance of getting out.





	1. Chapter 1

As he watched the young boy walk out of the detention centre, Shiro couldn't help but notice the lack of other cars in the parking lot.

"I don't get it. I steal your car, and you respond by helping me out?"

"Yeah. So you owe me one."

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a business card.

"Be at this address at 08:00 hours tomorrow."

Keith took it, reading the printed details.

"You're getting a second chance." Shiro looked around. "Are your parents coming to get you?"

Something was exposed and quickly hidden away in the kid's expression before he nodded.

"Yeah, they won't be long."

"Okay." Shiro offered a smile before driving off.

* * *

It was no more than two minutes later when he found himself turning around and heading back to the centre, unable to shake concern for the kid. He parked up at the side of the road just around the corner from the centre with a full view of the parking lot.

Keith was sat down in the scorching heat of the midday sun in his oversized hoodie, inappropriate for this time of year.

* * *

Twenty minutes later, nothing had changed and Shiro was worried.

No one had arrived to collect the kid, and he had a strong feeling that Keith didn't even have a phone.

The kid reached a hand into his pocket and took out the smallest amount of change. He counted it through in his hand before seeming to groan and shove it back into his jeans.

Keith picked himself up off the ground before starting to walk off towards town.

"He's not going to walk..." Shiro asked himself, incredulously.

But that appeared to be the case.

Shiro followed him, making sure to leave enough distance to not be spotted.

* * *

Fifteen minutes into the walk, a car pulled up beside the boy which was filled with other kids of varying ages, all younger than Keith. His Mom got out, already shouting and swearing about horrible things that Shiro never wanted to ever hear again. She grabbed Keith by the neck in a move which felt aggressive and wrong to witness being directed towards a child.

The young boy tried to squirm free of her grip, fighting the woman the best he could for someone half her size.

And then.

Shiro heard the smack before his brain was able to process what had just happened.

Keith was stood, eyes down on the sidewalk with a hand holding his cheek. He was no longer fighting and just stayed silent.

"Get. In. The. Car..."

The young boy, who looked like he was trying to fight back tears, did as he was told and opened the back door of the car, piling in amongst what seemed to be at least four other children.

As the car pulled away, Shiro felt sick, and he wasn't sure whether it was due to what he'd just witnessed, or the fact that he had done nothing to help the boy.

He suddenly felt a wave of protectiveness come over him for this kid, knowing what he needed to do.

Get Keith into the Garrison.

* * *

The next morning, Shiro wanted nothing more than to be able to go and fetch the kid from wherever he was living to bring him to the garrison building, but he didn't have an address. Instead he had to simply wait for the young boy to walk.

Keith arrived a few minutes shy of the arranged time looking bone tired. His eyes were sleep deprived and he couldn't look more miserable.

"Keith." He called, walking over. "Come on, I'll show you the fleet."

* * *

Touring the planes, Keith would speak up every so often to offer an insight of his own knowledge of aviation and space exploration history. Afterwards, they stopped off at the cafeteria.

Keith immediately became more reserved.

"Grab a tray."

"I don't-" He went to reply, but Shiro had already walked over to the servers.

"What do you want?"

Keith seemed to be in an eternal struggle before reluctantly taking a bowl of soup and placing it on his tray. He made no effort to take anything else.

Shiro grabbed a bottle of cloudy lemonade for himself and a regular bottle for Keith, placing the latter on the kid's tray.

"I..."

When they reached the register, Keith looked positively ill, and Shiro immediately felt terrible for being the cause of clear discomfort and heavy anxiety. He smiled to the woman and flashed his garrison ID card.

"Have a nice day, Mister Shirogane."

"You too." He nodded.

Keith was still in the same position, hands white knuckling the tray.

"Come on, kiddo."

They sat down at one of the tables before Shiro handed out the correct items.

"Eat up." He smiled before looking the kid over, eyes immediately drawn to the clenched, almost shaking fist Keith was making.

The two sat in silence for a minute before the kid spoke up.

"What do you want from me?"

"Nothing."

Keith scoffed. "Everyone wants something."

"That's a sad outlook."

The choice of reply only seemed to anger the kid more.

"Ughhh." Keith growled. "What was that?"

"What was what?"

"That with the food."

"You needed fed, something wrong with that?"

"I'm not an idiot, I know when something is too good to be true, so I'll ask again, what do you want from me?"

"Keith..."

The kid slammed his fist down on the table sending the whole canteen into silence. He immediately shrank down, shoulders drawn in as he directed his gaze to the floor.

"Eat up." Shiro said again, softly.

Keith considered it for a few seconds before reaching to take a spoon and slowly beginning to eat the soup.

Once finished, he looked at the lemonade but didn't open it.

"You not thirsty?"

"Could I take it with me?"

"It's yours, kiddo, do whatever you want with it."

Keith took the bottle and put it in the front pouch of his hoodie.

As he did, Shiro saw one of the sleeves rise up revealing purple finger marks on his wrist.

The kid immediately knew what he was looking at and shoved the sleeve down.

"You know. The Garrison is a safe place. We look after our own. No one would hurt you there."

"I can't."

"Why not?"

"You heard my teacher. I'm not right for this, and I'm not worth wasting your time on."

"Why?"

Keith furrowed an eyebrow.

"What?"

"Why are you not worth me spending time on you?"

"Because I'm going to be bad at it."

"That's what practice is for." Shiro answered.

"Ughh!" Keith growled. "You don't get it!" He shouted. "You'll lose interest in me real quick, I'm too much work."

Shiro winced. Those were not the words of a sixteen-year-old child, they belonged to someone Keith should be able to trust. Someone in a position of care who has clearly been drilling this into the kid's head for years.

"Mrs. Willow said it herself, and she's been stuck with me for years. I'm a discipline case. I'm not worth the trouble."

Shiro lapsed.

"Enough!" He shouted.

Keith shrunk.

Taking a breath, Shiro sighed.

"I'm sorry."

Keith glanced up slightly, expression that of confusion.

"That was uncalled for and I apologise, there's no excuse for me to lose my temper and shout like that."

"You don't have to..."

"Yes I do. You didn't deserve that, and I'm sorry."

Keith got up from the table.

"Thank you for lunch, Sir. I'm sorry for all the trouble."

The kid walked off.

Shiro scrubbed a hand down his face before following after him. He didn't catch up until they were outside.

"Keith, wait!"

The older man panted, his muscles aching from exertion.

The boy had his hood up, hands buried in his pockets.

"Leave me alone."

"I said you'd get a second chance."

"Yeah, and I just blew it."

"But you'll also get a third chance, and a fourth, and a fifth, and as many more as you need because people make mistakes, that's all part of being human." Shiro stated. "And I'd like, if you'll allow me one, a second chance too for losing myself there in the canteen."

"I'm not interested."

"You should be, you showed pure talented in that sim back there. With the right training, you'll beat my records in no time."

Keith scoffed.

"What?"

"Why are you doing this?"

"Because I believe that you can be something great."

"You'll change your mind real quick, don't worry."

"Why?"

Keith furrowed an eyebrow.

"What?"

"Why would I change my mind about you?"

"Because everyone else does. I get angry, and I lash out, and no one wants to deal with that."

"You can learn control."

"People have been trying to control me for years."

"You're not something that _needs_ controlled, Keith. Self-control is teachable. You have to want these things for yourself, otherwise you won't learn anything."

"I don't know if they'll want me going there."

"Who, your parents?" Shiro asked. "It's such an amazing opportunity, I'm sure I could help talk them round if you needed me to."

"No!" Keith exclaimed before his cheeks turned a tint of red.

Something was off with the kid but he didn't press further.

"Oh..." Shiro remembered. "This is for you." He reached into his satchel and pulled out a book before handing it to Keith.

"What is it?"

"It's a study guide for the GQE's or Garrison Qualifying Examination as they're formally known."

Keith briefly flicked through the extensive mass of pages.

"I'm not smart enough for this."

"Of course you are. And I can help you, but you'll have to put in the time outside of that." Shiro stated.

Keith smiled.

"I'll think about it."

"That's all I want to hear."

* * *

Two weeks after they'd last met at the Garrison, Shiro got a call.

"Am I speaking to Mister Shirogane?"

"Yes, that's me."

"Good afternoon, Sir. We have a Mister Keith Jacobs down in the cells and he told us to call you. He didn't supply a number so apologies for using your Garrison one."

"No, no, that's what it's there for, it's fine. Is Keith okay?"

"Not really. The kid's pretty angry. He was deemed a risk to others after his guardian called the police. We collected him about two hours ago and he's only just calmed down a little."

"Do you know what happened?"

"Nope, he hasn't said a word since he got here. He's a stubborn one."

"I'll be right there."

* * *

Shiro arrived at the detention centre feeling uneasy. Something seemed off about this whole situation. Walking inside, he asked at the front desk before heading to the cell.

Keith was a mess. His hair was a bird's nest, his shirt was ripped at the front from the collar down, his knuckles were bloody and torn, and there was dark bruising around his mouth and cheek.

"Keith."

The kid didn't strike him as dangerous, just upset and scared as his eyes turned to find those of the officer's.

"Mister Shirogane."

"Call me Shiro, kid."

Keith nodded.

"So... what caused all this?"

"I hate her." Keith's voice shook tearfully. "I hate her so much."

"Who?"

"Kristie?"

"Who's that?"

"My foster placement."

Everything suddenly began to make sense.

"What happened?"

Keith didn't answer, shrinking deeper down inside himself.

"Keith..." Shiro encouraged, softly.

"I lost it... I just... I couldn't... you don't understand. She took the book, the one that you gave me and she was threatening to ruin it. She just kept taunting me, and doing that thing where she keeps poking at me because she knows that it'll annoy me to the point where I get really really angry. And I did! I just wanted it to stop, but she wouldn't. She never listens. And I just lost it. I hit her. I hit her really hard and she hit her head on the way down. I didn't know what to do so I told the kids to stay upstairs and then I called an ambulance. She kept telling me I'm going to jail and that's where I belong. That I'm dangerous and no one should be around me. She said that you're just in this for the money..."

Shiro went to say something but was cut off by Keith.

"I'm not an idiot. I know how much foster parents get paid for being stuck with me. The Garrison are paying you to go round schools and find pilots to fly for them. It's your job to deal with hopeless cases like me. You don't actually care, you just have to pretend to."

"Keith, no..."

"Don't." Keith's tone was warning. "I've had foster parents like you before. Ones that cared. They'd care SO much, and I'd stupidly let my barrier down because I'd trust them, and then they'd throw me to the curb. 'I know we wanted to adopt you, Keith, but, Marie just got pregnant! It's a miracle! You know how many years we've been unsuccessful. But that means we can't afford to keep you.' Or they wouldn't even have the guts to tell me. Mrs. Rands car would just pull up outside and she'd tell me to pack. Then I'd get ten minutes to pile everything into a trash bag while they pretended they were actually upset about the whole thing."

Keith's voice shook.

"I fucking hate her, but no one will listen to me." He sniffled, still shaking in anger. "She'll find some way to take me back and then she'll just start tormenting me again, and no one will listen because why would they?" Keith scoffed. "Who wants a stupid, violent kid with anger and abandonment issues?"

The cell was silent after Keith finished. Shiro took a deep breath and kept himself calm as his own anger rose inside him.

"You're not going back there. Not if I have anything to say about it. I will personally make sure that this woman never has any form of contact with you again."

"Why are you doing this?! Why are you even here?!"

"Because you asked for me."

Keith looked down.

"And because I want to be."

Shiro took a deep breath.

"You don't have to do this alone. I'm here for you, kiddo."

* * *

"Mister Jacobs is violent and reckless..."

"When he's antagonised or scared!"

"Regardless, these are not values we accept here at the Garrison."

"Sir. Just give him a chance to prove himself. I thought the mantra of the Garrison was to take on any student regardless of background? Why should that be any different for Keith? The Garrison would be perfect for him. Self-discipline, targets to aim for, focus."

"Shirogane..."

"I'll vouch for him, okay? You have my word that this kid is worth fighting for. Just, please... at least see him in the sim, the kid's better than me."

Iverson scoffed.

"You sure about that?"

"Not a word of a lie, Sir."

He took a breath. "Fine, but on your head be it. You better keep him in-line."

"Yes, Sir."

"Rather than inflicting this kid on one of the Captain's, if he does get into the Garrison, you'll be his mentor."

"Thank you, Sir." Shiro nods before saluting and beginning to leave.

"Oh, and Shirogane..."

He glances back.

"You'll learn in time to not let emotions cloud your judgements. Don't throw away the reputation you've spent years building here over this boy. He's not worth it."

Shiro held his tongue. "Sir." He left the room.


	2. Chapter 2

Heading to the detention centre, Shiro had stopped off for food en-route.

It wasn't hard to see that Keith's foster parent, who was supposed to be looking after him, clearly hadn't been.

He wasn't the correct weight for his age, and it showed in his bony frame.

Shiro was determined to get him to a healthy weight.

The woman on the front desk looked up as he entered.

"Mister Shirogane."

"How's he been?"

"Quiet." She answered. "He shouldn't be here."

"When do you think he'll get out?"

"Depends, mostly on that woman." The woman sniffed. "Mmm, something smells good."

"Junk food." Shiro held up the bag.

"Even better." She smirked. "Good, he needs to eat more." Pressing the buzzer under the desk, she motioned towards the door. "Go through then, before it gets cold."

"Thanks." He made his way through to the small cell which was housing Keith.

There was another buzz before the light beside the cell door turned green allowing Shiro to open it and walk inside.

"Hey, kiddo. Brought you some grub."

Keith was curled up on the mattress at the side of the cell.

Shiro put the food down and sat beside the younger boy's feet at the end of the mattress. He reached out a hand and gently placed it on Keith's arm.

"So I have some news." He began. "The Garrison are going to give you a chance."

Keith's held tilted ever-so-slightly at that.

"So now we need to get you ready for your GQE's. Then it's just the simulator, but you have that covered." Shiro smiled. "This is your chance to get out of here. No more homes. No more foster parents. The Garrison will look after you, and so will I. They've said if you get in I'll be your mentor."

"Do you really think I'll get in?" A small voice asked, muffled behind hoodie clad arms.

"I think you can do anything." Shiro picked up the food. "Now come on, you need to eat."

Keith pushed himself upright and accepted the bag, reaching inside and popping a chip in his mouth.

"Thank you." The boy looked years younger in his oversized hoodie as he turned to Shiro with the most painfully grateful of smiles. He extended the bag, offering the fries to Shiro.

He smiled at that, the kid's generosity knowing no bounds, before taking a fry.

"It'll get better, kiddo, I promise."

* * *

A week later, Shiro returned, cursing himself for not being able to visit earlier. Between exam prep and flight drills with Adam, the hours had just gotten away from him.

Hopefully the kid wouldn't shut him out.

Opening the doors of the centre, the receptionist looked over.

"Mister Shirogane."

Shiro furrowed an eyebrow. Something was wrong.

"He's not here." She stated.

"Where is he?"

"His foster mother came and picked him up."

Shiro eye's widened. "Wait, what?!"

The receptionist looked confused.

"Problem?"

"Do you have an address?"

She shook her head. "You would have to ask his social worker for that."

Shiro walked off towards the doors. He pulled out his phone and began googling the number of the local CPS.

* * *

Sat in his car, Shiro was still on the phone.

"...Keith's foster mother, he hates her."

"Keith hates a lot of people..." Replied the woman the kid had referred to as Mrs. Rands.

"No, you don't understand. What happened, it was provoked. By what the kid's being saying, she purposely makes his angry so he lashes out."

"Why would she do that?"

"I don't know. Isn't that your job?"

"Mister Shirogane..."

"No. Don't just feed me some bullshit. Something is wrong in that house. I know it, and I won't just sit around doing nothing when he's being treat like crap."

"There are procedures."

"I don't care. Give me the address and I'll sort this out myself."

"You know I can't do that."

"Why not, I seem to care about the kid vastly more than you do."

"Excuse me?!"

Shiro took a breath.

"Sorry, I'm just... I'm just worried about him."

Mrs. Rands sighed.

"Give me ten minutes and I'll go round. I'll send you the address."

Shiro smiled. "Thank you."

"You better be right."

"I don't want to be."


	3. Chapter 3

Shiro pulled up outside the address Keith's social worker had given him to find the front door standing open.

Getting out of the car, he rushed towards the house.

A small gasp caused him to pause in his tracks.

A girl, no older than three was crouched down amongst the flower beds by the step, crying.

"You okay?" He asked, softly.

She didn't respond for a few seconds before slowly shaking her head.

"I'm not gonna' hurt you. I'm here to help."

The little girl sniffled before holding her arms out.

Shiro, unable to deny her the comfort, lifted her up into a carry before walking into the house.

Something had happened. A chair was broken, along with a photo frame, the glass scattered everywhere, the wall of the staircase had a large hole in it, and there were traces of blood on the bannister.

"How many of you guys are there?" He asked, calmly.

The little girl showed Shiro her hand before beginning to count with her fingers. "Me. Suzy. Tom. Katie, and Keith."

"Is Keith the oldest?"

She nodded before speaking up once again.

"Mommy was angry."

"Why was Mommy angry?"

"Keith told her about new school."

Shiro sighed. 'This was his fault'.

"And Katie snook out last night." The girl added. "Keith shouted at Mommy 'cause she shout at Katie. It was loud so I hid outside."

He stroked a hand through her hair before walking into the living room and sitting her down on the couch. Shiro knelt down in front of the little girl.

"I was wondering if you could be really really brave and stay right here for me? Okay? I just need to get all of your brothers and sisters and then we can go, okay?"

"No more shouting?" She asked, innocently.

He nodded. "No more shouting."

"Okay." She nodded.

"Good girl."

Shiro stood up and quickly rushed off upstairs. He hadn't seen a car on the driveway so maybe that evil bitch wasn't here.

Walking down the hallway, he found who he guessed were Suzy and Tom almost immediately, they were happily playing away with building blocks on the floor of a brightly painted bedroom.

Reaching the end, he found two interconnected bedrooms, the door of the first open and empty. Behind the second, he heard the sound of someone sobbing.

Shiro knocked.

The sobbing ceased immediately, a terrified squeak following before that too was silenced.

"Keith, you in there, it's Shiro?"

There was no response.

"Kiddo, I'm here to help."

"Is she still here?" Keith's voice replied.

Shiro let out a breath, thankful that the kid was okay enough to still be talking.

"Doesn't look like it."

The sound of furniture being moved could be heard before the door opened revealing a very tired and bruised Keith with a busted lip and the beginnings of a black eye. Bustled on the bed behind him was a small girl who didn't appear to be much younger than than the kid.

"Keith!" A voice called from downstairs.

Keith furrowed an eyebrow. "Mrs. Rands?" He looked to Shiro. "What did you do?"

"I had to."

Mrs. Rands approached, her eyes widening at the state of Keith.

"Oh, sweetie."

Shiro knew that these two had an extensive history judging by how the kid didn't flinch once as she reached out and gently placed her hand on his chin, turning his head from side to side to see the extent of the damage.

"I am so sorry."

Keith shook his head.

"It's not your fault. She was good."

Mrs. Rands walked into the room and over to Katie, sitting down beside her and pulling the girl into a hug.

"What happened here?"

"She didn't get her own way, so she lashed out." Keith rubbed the back of his hand across his mouth, removing the blood. "This is Shiro, by the way, he was the one who told me about the Garrison that Pidge and I are going to."

"Keith, don't get your hopes up too much, just in case you two don't get in. I don't want you being disapointed."

"We're used to it." Keith joked painfully before walking over to Katie and pinching her on the cheek with a smile. "Genius over here will definitely get in, I'm sure they'd take her early too, she's already like two grades ahead of everyone at moron high."

Mrs. Rands looked to Shiro. "So how would this work, in theory?"

"They would just have to pass the Garrison's entrance exams." He turned to Katie. "Science, Engineering, or Piloting?"

She sniffled before answering strongly. "Science."

He smiled. "Okay so they would both have the entrance exam, and then Katie would get the science exam, and Keith's would have a simulator test."

"And if they got in?"

"Then the Garrison would look after them. Meals, a place to sleep, education, and they would be able to get scholarships for all the rest like books and uniforms, etc."

The two kid's gazes were fixed on Mrs. Rands, expressions begging for the opportunity.

Mrs. Rands took a breath. "I will do some research on it."

Katie smiled.

"Thank you."

"Now..." Mrs. Rands got to her feet and walked over to Keith. "You Mister, have a date with A&E because that nose in broken, and I don't like the look of that shoulder."

"It's fine."

"It's not fine, Keith, stop arguing."

"That's one of my talents, though."

"I know, you're very good at it."

He smirked, motioning with his hand to Katie who joined him. Keith wrapped his non-injured arm around her, pulling her protectively close. He looked up at Shiro.

"Thank you."

"You have nothing to thank me for, kiddo."

"Still..." Keith shrugged. "Thanks."

"Well, I'm going to take these guys and the little munchkins out there home for the night. Are you free tomorrow to talk more about the Garrison?"

Shiro nodded. "Of course. Would I be able to see them?"

Mrs. Rands. "Sure."

Keith smiled.

 


	4. Chapter 4

**3 DAYS BEFORE SHIRO ARRIVED**

Keith was practically thrown into the house by their ‘loving’ foster mother before he made his way to the couch where he spotted Pidge. Her eyes looked painfully thankful at the sight of him, but she didn’t dare make a move to get closer.

Getting locked up at the detention centre was the dumbest mistake in the world. He couldn’t afford to leave them alone with her, anything could’ve happened, and he needed to make sure that nothing had.

Glancing his younger sister over, at face value, she appeared fine. There was a slight cut above her eyebrow, but that could’ve been accidental, and she looked scared, but that was sadly normal.

He hadn’t seen any of the younger ones yet but from experience, they would be fine. They were Kristie’s own kids after all, and blood meant a lot in situations like this. You had to know where you ranked in this system, and you were always gonna come dead last against their actual kids.

Pidge however, didn’t have that same luxury. Her and Keith were acquisitions made by Kristie, for a reason that they couldn’t work out. Keith’s point of existence in this household extended no further than free childcare, and a punching bag, while Pidge was just sorta fostered.

“I’m going out.” Kristie stated. “Make sure you feed ‘em.” She grabbed her keys. “Don’t bother getting yourself anything, and I will know if you have so... don’t fucking try that shit. I’m fucking watching you Keith, you’re this close to going back, you hear me?”

“What a shame that would be...” he muttered under his breath.

Turns out Kristie wasn’t fully out of earshot.

“The fuck did you say, you ungrateful piece of shit?!”

“You heard me.” Keith wasn’t in the mood.

Pidge grimaced, not liking when her brother would comment back.

“Unless you want another trip to the emergency department I wouldn’t mess with me tonight, Kristie.” He threatened, hoping she would just hurry up and leave.

Kristie scoffed incredulously as she landed a punch across his face.

Keith blinked through it. His nose really didn’t feel good but he could get over it.

She clearly wanted to say more, but didn’t, heading towards the door before they heard it slam.

Pidge was nearly crying on the couch.

Keith made his way over, sitting down and rushing her into a huge hug.

“I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry.” He repeated, holding her tight. “I was an idiot, I shouldn’t have gotten myself locked up.”

“You didn’t have a choice.”

“I could’ve chose to keep ignoring her instead of lashing out, but I didn’t. I never do.”

“It’s not your fault, she makes you be like that.”

“Yeah cause she fucking sucks, and I hate her.” Keith pressed a kiss to the crown of Pidge’s head. “Things will get better, they will.”

“You sure about that.”

“Of course I am, I’d never lie to you.” Keith replied. “We’ll get ourselves into this Garrison thing and then it’s all plain sailing from there. We’ll be free.”

“We’ll be attending a military academy, it’s pretty far from freedom.”

“Compared to what we have now, it will be fucking Disneyland.”

“I’ll remind you of that when you’re complaining about something Garrison related.” Pidge smirked.

Keith laughed.

“Come on, let’s get the munchkins some food.”

He walked over to the coat rack and grabbed numerous small child’s coats of varying colours.

“Who wants Maccie’s?” Keith called.

Excited cries could be heard before a herd of children descended the staircase.

Pidge furrowed an eyebrow.

“Wait, we’re going out?”

“Yeah.”

“We never go out.”

“I know, that’s why we’re doing it.” Keith smirked.

“With what money?”

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a bunch of notes.

Pidge’s eyes widened.

“Woah! Where did you get that?”

“Kristie’s purse.”

He removed a twenty and handed it to her.

“Don’t let her see.”

Pidge smiled.

“Thanks, Keith.”

“No problem, Pigeon. Now let’s go. Coats and shoes on, guys.”

* * *

Sat at a table, the kids surrounded it, happily eating away at their Happy Meals. Keith was next to Pidge.

“We can share.” Pidge offered up her chicken nugget box. “I want to share.”

“It’s fine.” He shook his head. “They’re yours.”

“But you don’t have anything, and you giving me money is why you couldn’t afford to get yourself something.”

“It’s fine...”

“No it’s not, I feel bad.”

“Pidge. Shiro fed me so much food during his visits that it honestly reminded me what it was like to actually feel full, and even on the days he didn’t come, they’d still give me meals throughout the day. You however, probably haven’t eaten much since I got thrown in there, so you need it more. And if you’re not full.” He took out a five dollar bill from his pocket. “Get more food ‘cause once she finds out about this then you can say goodbye to us eating for a few days.”

Pidge looked furiously at the bill.

“You lied.”

“I did, but it was for your own good.”

“Why are you like this? Why are you so self-sacrificial?”

“Because you’re my little annoying sis, and you mean more to me than anything or anyone in this known universe. And if going hungry means that you’re not, then that is exactly what I will do.” He paused. “Pigeon, despite what that bitch says, you deserve the fucking moon and stars.”

She smiled, softly.

”I will give you as close as I can get to them until we’re out out of this shitty situation.”

Pidge sniffled, trying not to cry but ultimately finding herself unsuccessful as she launched herself at her older brother.

“Thank you. Thank you...” She sobbed.

“You don’t ever have to thank me, kiddo. Not for anything.”


	5. Chapter 5

**2 DAYS BEFORE SHIRO ARRIVED**

Pidge was sat on their bed leant against the headboard reading the book that Shiro had given Keith about the Garrison. The cover had come off, and some of the pages were nearly falling out after Kristie had tried her hardest to ruin it, but it was still readable. So far, nothing had really seemed too difficult to her. She looked over at her brother who was lying on his back on the floor throwing a baseball to himself in the air, catching it one-handed.

"You should really read this before the exams."

"I will. You need it more though, you have two tests, I only have the one."

"That's not fair." Pidge screwed her face up.

Keith smirked. "Yeah, but if I'm a terrible pilot then they won't want me there and then, you could fail the exam and they might still think you have enough potential to take you regardless."

"Didn't you beat everyone on the simulator at school?"

"Yeah, but that could've just been dumb luck."

"Sure... don't put yourself down, dum dum." Pidge teased.

"Wow... thanks."

A beep could be heard.

Keith furrowed an eyebrow.

"Was that?"

Pidge looked sheepish as she wordlessly crossed to the chest of drawers, burying her hand under socks and pants before pulling out the emergency phone.

Keith stood up.

"How is there a text?"

Pidge still didn't say anything.

"Katie..."

"Don't call me that!"

"What did I tell you about giving that number out? It's for emergencies, not social crap." Keith stated, sternly.

"She knows not to text it, she's just worried 'cause I haven't been in school for a few days." Pidge read the end of the message. "She wants to know if I wanna go to a party tomorrow."

"Pidge... you can't, not right now."

She sighed. "I hate this."

"I know."

Pidge looked up at Keith. "Could you cover for me? Please! Please! I'll not ask for anything else for the _whole_ year."

"What brought all this on? What's happening at this party? Or should I say who is at this party?"

She blushed.

"Male?"

Pidge didn't answer.

"Female?"

Keith got his answer from the little smile before his eyes lit up.

"Pigeon, why didn't you tell me?" He beamed. "Tell me everything. Is this the girl that just text you?"

Pidge nodded.

"What's her name?"

"Jasmine."

"Oooh, so you basically gotten yourself your own Disney princess?" He teased.

Pidge hit him lightly on the arm.

Keith laughed, grabbing her round the waist and tumbling them both onto the bed.

Pidge giggled, escaping his grasp and lying on her back looking up at the ceiling.

"She's really nice. I told her some stuff, not everything, and she actually gives a shit. She listened and didn't just write me off as being too much trouble than I'm worth."

"Well I'm very happy for you. Are you going to be making it official anytime soon?"

"We might have already been dating for two weeks." She stated, quietly.

Keith's eyes widened. "Pidge! The hell didn’t you tell me for?”

Pidge shrugged. "I don't know, I was just..."

"What, worried? Pigeon, you know I'm gay, what did you think I was gonna' say?"

"It's stupid, I know, but I don't know, you had so much going on here that I didn't want to just dump something else on you as well."

"It would've seriously cheered me up." He smiled, pulling her close, wrapping his arm around her. "Awww, my little sis has a girl."

Pidge smiled.

"They grow up so fast."

"You're an idiot..."

"Thank you."


	6. Chapter 6

**2 HOURS BEFORE SHIRO ARRIVED**

Keith groaned. Everything felt fuzzy. What had happened?

Slowly his surroundings began to return to him, the feeling of the all too familiar wooden floor beneath him. He rested his forehead against the cold wooden planks before painfully pushing himself up to look around.

Pidge rushed over to him.

"Keith!" Her voice was whispered yet terrified as she helped him up. "I couldn't lift you, I'm sorry."

He shook it off, regretting the motion immediately as it made his head spin. "I-s fine." He mumbled, trying to blink his vision back to normal.

"You shouldn't have done that."

"What exactly did I do?"

Pidge looked at him with a terrified expression.

"Keith?"

He rubbed his head, thankful when there wasn't any blood. Glancing at his sister, Keith saw red.

Pidge had a large hand mark on her cheek.

"What have I told you?!"

"I thought she was going to kill you!"

"She's not psycho enough to do that. Don't get involved."

"So what, I'm supposed to just stand there when she beats the crap out of you?"

"Yes. That's exactly what you're supposed to do. I've already told you that a billion times."

"That's bullshit."

"You need to stop swearing."

Pidge glared at him.

"Stop fighting me, please." His tone was soft, hiding pain beneath it.

She sighed. "Sorry."

Keith smiled slightly, ruffling her hair.

"Help me upstairs?"

She nodded, helping her brother slowly up the steps to their room.

Once inside, Keith locked the door before achingly pushing the edge of the bookcase in front of it. He then stumbled over to their bed and joined his sister, almost collapsing down onto it in a cocktail of exhaustion and pain, lying his head against the pillow and closing his eyes.

Pidge was too quiet for a few minutes before she began to cry, getting impossibly close to her brother and wrapping her arms around him, resting her head against his back as she lay next  to him.

"Get some rest, Keith. I can keep fort for a while."

She pressed a kiss to his cheek before more tears began to fall.

"I'm so sorry."


	7. Chapter 7

**2 DAYS LATER**

"Have a great time, you two. I hope it's everything you want and more." Mrs. Rands wished as she dropped them off outside the Garrison.

"Thanks."

As she drove off, Pidge looked up at the buildings.

"Woah."

"Cool, right?"

She nodded.

"Come on."

* * *

After getting their GQE Visitor Badges, they were allowed inside the base. There was a large group of teens their age stood listening to what looked to be one of the teacher's giving a tour.

Keith, not thrilled with the idea, took Pidge's hand and led her down the side corridor.

"Keith, we need to stay with them, we're gonna' get in trouble."

"Yeah, but Shiro's already showed me where all the cool stuff is. Look." Walking out from the building led them to a large hangar full of various aircraft.

Pidge's eyes lit up.

"Woah!"

"See, wayyyy better than the tour."

* * *

"Admit it... you got us lost."

Navigation was an issue at the Garrison, as Keith had discovered. All the hallways seemed to merge together, the same white walls and grey floors decorating every direction you turned.

"If we miss the exam then I'm actually going to murder you." Pidge looked up at her brother.

"I'll just ask someone if it comes to it, don't worry, we won't be late."

"We don't even know what time it is."

"Fine, I'll find out."

Keith tried a corridor that he was sure they hadn't gone down yet. He noticed a small computer display embedded in the wall of a notice board and touched the screen.

'2:15'

"See, plenty of ti..." He cut himself off as his eyes caught of something on one of the pinned up posters.

_'Computer Society Sign-Ups_

Matthew Holt'

"Oh, shit..." Keith cursed under his breath, turning on the spot to rush back over to Pidge. In his haste, he found himself walking straight into a student.

"Woah, careful."

His eyes widened at the sight of the taller, older, male Pidge stood before him.

"You okay?"

Keith nodded wordlessly.

"You sure about that?" Matt furrowed an eyebrow.

"Yeah, sorry."

"No problem." He walked off.

Keith was speechless as he made his way back over to his sister.

"Pidge."

"Yeah." She didn't like the concerned expression her brother was wearing.

"I just saw something and I want to tell you because you deserve to know, but I don't think you're going to take it well."

"O-kay..."

"You had a brother, right?"

Pidge's eyes widened. "How do you?..."

"His name is Matthew Holt?"

"Keith..."

"His name is on some sign up sheet over there, and I'm pretty sure I just accidentally bumped into him because he looks exactly like you."

Her breathing became heavy and she felt her beginning to panic. "No, no, no, no..." She weakly mumbled.

"Hey. Hey, hey, hey, hey..." Keith wrapped his arms around her, pulling them both into a unoccupied sideroom out of view of everyone. "Just breathe, Pigeon. You know what to do." he moved her hand up to his heart. "Nice and steady."

They stayed like this for a few minutes until Pidge had calmed down from the attack before he spoke up again.

"What do I do?"

"The same as you were gonna' do before you found all this out. He can get fucked for all it's worth, Pigeon. He's not worth getting sad about, and it's his fucking loss."

Pidge could tell that Keith was getting angrier. She took hold of his hand and gave it a squeeze.

He looked down at the gesture and smiled.

"Sorry."

She shook her head.

"You have a chance to find out where you came from." Keith stated. "I'm not going to force you to do anything. This is your own choice. Whatever you decide to do, I've got your back."

Pidge smiled.

"Come on."

They walked out of the room back into the hallway.

Wandering around, they seemed to find themselves in the dorms area.

"I'm pretty sure we're not supposed to be here."

"What makes you say that?" Keith smirked.

Pidge rolled her eyes.

The sound of electronic doors opening could be heard before a tall man walked out.

"Hey..." A familiar voice out of sight called.

The man turned back with a smile before Shiro appeared from the doorway. He wrapped an arm around the man, pulling him close in a hug.

"I love you."

The man smiled too. "I love you too, Takashi."

Shiro kissed him softly.

"See you in the sim later?"

"It's a date." Shiro smirked.

"Crappy date, Shirogane." He teased before walking off.

Keith couldn't help but smile at the scene.

Pidge went one step further.

"Aww, you guys are cute."

Shiro jumped, turning to the two of them.

Keith laughed.


	8. Chapter 8

Shiro, having removed Katie and Keith from the dorms area, had taken them instead to the dining hall for some food before the exam.

"So, you guys feel ready for the exam?"

Katie, who was happily eating away at a taco, nodded.

"Keith?"

The older kid was moving food around with his fork, not really having eaten much of the lasagne.

"I'm more looking forward to the simulator one."

"I told you to read the book." Katie stated.

"I tried."

Shiro couldn't help but see that as a strange response but didn't push it any further.

"Well you can only do your best. I'm sure you'll both be great." He looked to Keith. "You okay to fly with that shoulder?"

"I'm fine."

"All students for the Garrison Qualification Examinations please report to the exam hall."

Keith looked to his sister with a smile.

"You ready, Pigeon."

Katie nodded.

"Good luck." Shiro stood up from the table. "I'll be outside the hall when you're done."

"Thanks, Shiro."

* * *

**2 HOURS LATER**

The doors to the exam hall opened, groups of students walked out excitedly talking to each other about questions from the exams.

Shiro eventually spotted Keith and Katie, the siblings looking despondent.

"Hey, how did it go?"

Keith didn't respond, Katie shrugged.

"I'm sure it went amazing."

Keith scoffed.

"I'm sure it didn't. I told you this was pointless. I told you I was going to be bad at it."

"There's always the simulator." Shiro reassured.

"And then what? They still won't let me in."

"Why do you think you did badly?"

Keith was silent for a few seconds before he changed the subject.

"That guy in there, the one at the desk."

Shiro looked round the door to see who he was talking about. It was the Commander.

"What about him?"

"What's his name?"

"Commander Samuel Holt. You'll probably meet him properly once you start here."

Katie's eyes widened as she turned immediately to look in the room.

"Motherfucker..." Keith muttered under his breath. "Do you know Matthew Holt?"

"Yeah, he's a good friends of mine, so's the Commander."

As he looked between the two kids, Katie looked almost green.

"Katie, are you okay?"

Keith turned to his sister. "Hey, everything's fine."

"It's obviously _not_ fine..." She growled under her breath to him.

"What am I missing here?"

"He's my birth Dad and Matt is my brother." Katie walked off.

Keith went to follow her.

"I'm going to the bathroom, just give me five, okay?!" She shouted.

The older kid put his hands up in surrender.

"Okay, okay. That's fine."

Shiro exhaled.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..."

"It's not your fault; I was stupid to bring it up."

"I didn't even know he had a daughter."

Keith scoffed. "Yeah, I'm sure he didn't want it to be public knowledge. Nice to know that he's never mentioned her."

"Do you know why?"

He shook his head.

"She's never told me."

"Shiro." A voice spoke up from behind them.

The Commander walked out from the exam hall.

"Sam. How did the exam go?"

"They look like a promising bunch." He smiled before turning to Keith. "Nice to meet you."

Keith looked ready to attack, his hand clenching into a fist at his side.

Shiro laughed awkwardly before standing between the kid and the Commander.

"He doesn't talk much."

"Ahh, a quiet type." The Commander nodded. "Anyway, I’ll be in my office in you need me. I'll see you around, Shiro."

Shiro nodded with a smile before turning to Keith when he was out of sight.

"That is not going to get you anywhere besides a prison cell."

Keith took a breath. "I'm sorry... I'm sorry..." He scrubbed a hand down his face.

Katie walked back over, immediately noticing her brother's distress.

"What's wrong?"

"He talked to Commander Holt."

"Oh my god, what did you do?!" She enquired.

"I didn't do anything! He talked to me."

"I don't know what to do." Katie admitted, tearfully.

Shiro noticed how red the skin was around her eyes, clearly from having been crying in the bathroom.

"Katie, don't let them ruin your chance at something you really want for yourself. You guys deserve this more than most of the kids we get through here. You're the one in control. You get to decide how you play this, and that's what's important. It's your life, not anyone else's. Especially people who haven't been a part of it."

She smiled, wiping away a tear with the sleeve of her green hoodie.

"You guys got a lift back?" Shiro checked.

"I actually do this time." Keith smirked. "Mrs. Rands is coming to get us."

"When do we get the results?" Katie asked.

"Later tonight. They're really quick with these things."

"Oh god..."

"You'll be fine. Have some faith in yourself." Shiro smiled.

"We should probably head out. Bye, Shiro."

"Bye, guys."

He watched as they walked out of the Garrison before walking off to Sam Holt's office, knocking on the door.

"Come in."

The Commander turned to him.

"Ahh, Shiro. What can I do you for?"

"I have a favour to ask."

* * *

Twenty minutes later, Sam had finished marking the two's exam papers.

Shiro winced as he read the cover.

"They failed."

"Sadly, yes."

"They failed, badly."

"It's a strange one."

Shiro furrowed an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, look at Keith's writing. He was completely fine on all the math questions, but then barely answered a sixth of the written papers."

"Do you think he just gave up?"

"Yes, but not because he wanted to. For example, he was mid-sentence in his answer here. Maybe he ran out of time."

"But they had two hours."

"From the answer's he gave to these two questions, he was correct in what he was writing, but everything points towards him having spent the majority of the time trying to understand what the questions was saying, and this paper had some very large paragraphs of literary extracts for them to read through before answering."

"That can't be right. How can he have..."

"Gotten to sixteen-years-old without someone noticing that he has a learning disability? Yeah, I'm wondering that myself."

_'I told you to read the book.'_

_'I tried.'_

"He's dyslexic." Shiro looked to the other paper. "And Katie?"

"There's something wrong with the handwriting, it's way too messy for her age, and I saw her writing during the exam, her grip of the pen was typical, so it's not that. She was squinting a lot though." The Commander looked to him. "What kind of background do these two kids come from?"

"An interesting one, to put it mildly."

"So financially unstable?"

He nodded.

"She needs glasses."

"You're kidding..."

"Sadly not."

Shiro sighed, taking a seat by Sam's desk. "So what happens now?"

"Now... we give Keith a CD player and get his sister a way to actual see properly."

His eyes lit up.

"You're going to let them resit?"

"Of course. Every kid deserves the same chance, regardless of where they came from."

Shiro smiled.

"Thank you."


	9. Chapter 9

"What are we doing here, Shiro?" Keith asked. "We flunked."

Shiro handed over a form a to Katie.

She read it over.

"Eye test?"

Keith furrowed an eyebrow before looking at his sister.

"You're kidding... Pidge, how long have you not been able to see properly?"

"It got worse in the last few years."

"Years?!"

"Well it doesn't matter now." Shiro interrupted before it escalated. "Just go to that room right there at the end of the corridor and they'll get you sorted."

Pidge nodded.

"Thanks."

"No problem."

Shiro reached into his bag and pulled out the portable CD player and a new pair of earphones. He gave them to Keith.

"What are these?"

"They're for taking the exam." He explained. "Keith, when you try to read something, what happens?"

The kid shrugged. "I don't know."

"Do the letters seem to be in the wrong order sometimes?"

Keith looked shocked.

"How do you know that?"

"It's called dyslexia."

The kid looked distraught.

"Told you I was stupid."

"Hey." Shiro scowled. "None of that. It's incredibly common, and there are ways to treat it."

"So what do I do with this?"

"It will read the questions out to you, and you will be able to pause and rewind it whenever you need to."

Keith's face lit up.

"That's really clever."

Shiro smiled.

"There are people here who can help you with your dyslexia, and if you want to, I could tutor you."

"I feel like I'm thanking you way too much. You need to stop being so good to us." Keith smirked before his expression became serious once again. "I would like that, Shiro."

"Great."

The kid noticed the poster on the wall.

"Is that you?"

Shiro turned to look before nodding.

"The Garrison like to showcase their students. Unfortunately I got stuck on one of their publicity campaigns." He laughed.

Keith smirked. "Was that your boyfriend yesterday?"

"Yeah, his name's Adam. We've been flight partners since we were cadets."

"Are they... can you be... you know, here?"

Shiro smiled. "Of course you can. Like I said, the Garrison is a safe place. You don't have to worry about anything like that." He reassured.

Keith relaxed.

* * *

Five minutes later, Katie emerged wearing a pair of gold-coloured metal framed round glasses.

Keith smiled.

"Better?"

"Yeah, just a little." She teased.

"Idiot..." Keith rolled his eyes with a smirk.

Katie hit her brother lightly on the arm.

Commander Holt walked over.

"Ready for your resit?" His eyes drew immediately to Katie before they widened, the Commander looking as if he'd seen a ghost.

Neither of them knew what to say.

The Commander looked down at the exam paper.

'Katie Phillips'

He looked back to Katie. "Emm, I'm sorry, I just-..." He stumbled. "I need to. Could you excuse me?"

They nodded.

Keith turned to Katie. "Holy shit..."

"He recognised me." She stated.

"More than that, he actually looked upset. I'm so confused."

Katie looked up at Shiro. "Should I tell him?"

"That's up to you, Katie."

"Pidge."

Shiro furrowed an eyebrow.

"Hmm?"

"Pidge, call me Pidge." She smiled.

He smiled too.

"You sure you want to do this, Pigeon?"

She took a breath. "Yeah, I do. Gotta' find out about my past sometime, right?"

"I'm proud of you." Keith pulled her into a quick hug, pressing a kiss to the crown of her forehead. "Good luck."

"Thanks. Which one is his office?"

"Down and to the left."

"Okay... I can do this." She determinedly walked to his office before knocking on the door.

* * *

The Commander opened the door, immediately surprised to see her.

"Can I help you?"

"Yeah. I think... I think we have some stuff to tell each other."

He motioned to one of the seats in front of his desk before taking a seat himself.

Pidge began to fiddle with her fingers, hoping it would help her stay calm.

"Okay, I'm just going to say it. Straight up. Right now..." She willed herself to spit the words out. "I... I'm... You're my Dad."

"Oh my god... Katie..." The Commander's hand rose to cover his mouth as tears immediately began to trickle.

"I have questions."

He nodded.

"How did I end up in foster care?"

"You..." He took a breath, closing his eyes for a few seconds. "You were taken from us."

Pidge's eyes widened, not expecting that answer.

"What?"

"You went missing, and we never found you. They had footage of the guy on the cameras, but the trail was just non-existent."

"How... how old was I?"

Commander Holt struggled. "Six, you were Six. Matt and you were messing around in on of the aisles of the supermarket when it happened. Matt tried to stop them but he was only thirteen, there was nothing more he could have done against a grown man who knew what he was doing."

"So you didn't leave me?"

"No. No, no, of course we didn't. We love you. We have since the day you were born and never stopped even after you were gone. I can't believe you're here. Of all the places for you to show up, you showed up right here." The Commander smiled.

Pidge smiled back.

* * *

Keith was going out of his mind down the corridor, pacing back and forth.

"She'll be fine, kiddo." Shiro spoke up.

Heavy, sprinting footsteps could be heard before Matt rounded the corner. He stopped beside the two of them, looking between his friend and the young kid before scoffing.

"You fucking knew?!"

"Matt..."

"Fuck you, Takashi." He walked off towards the Commander's office.

Keith's eyes were wide as he dared a glance at Shiro who was scrubbing a hand down his face.

"He just needs some time?" He offered.

The door to the office opened before Matt's voice could be heard exclaiming 'Katie!'

Keith couldn't take his eyes away as he watched Pidge eagerly hug her brother.

His heart hurt.

He knew one day that it could come to this, but he didn't expect to be replaced so fast. I mean, why would Pidge give a shit about him anymore when she had her real brother. She didn't need a fake she'd been stuck with for years. And she'd found her Dad. There was probably a Mom as well. Where exactly was he going to fit into all of that?

He wasn't.

Shiro, obviously sensing his sadness, gently rested a hand on his shoulder.

"Keith... you okay?"

He quickly nodded before slowly shaking his head.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really enjoyed writing this chapter, it almost made me cry.

They had been accepted into the Garrison. The results had come through a few nights earlier, and Keith was still shocked that he'd managed to pass the exam.

He was expecting Pidge to get in due to recent events, but he knew that there was still a chance that they might not want him.

But he'd been pleasantly wrong.

Since then, they'd been staying at the group home. They were still wards of the state until school started in the fall, after that, they were wards of the Garrison until they matured out of the system.

"So, what do you wanna' do today?" Keith asked. "I was thinking maybe we could go out and explore the town. I'm pretty sure I saw an ice cream shop on the drive over here."

"Umm, Dad invited me round for dinner." Pidge stated, cleaning her glasses before putting them back on.

"Oh..."

"You understand right, I mean, I haven't seen them in years so there's a lot to catch up on."

"No, obviously, that's amazing, Pigeon. Go have fun."

"Thanks." She smiled before walking out the group home.

Keith walked to the window and looked out. Pidge waved at Commander Holt, the woman who he presumed was her Mom, and Matt before climbing in. They drove off a few seconds later. Sighing, he made his way upstairs to their room, collapsing on the bed aimlessly. He laid there for a few minutes, internally debating inside his own head before reaching over to the sidetable and taking the emergency phone from the drawer.

'Thanks for saying you'll tutor me, it means a lot.'

He fumbled around the button before finally having the courage to press send.

Not long after, a reply came through.

'No problem at all, kiddo. You doing okay?'

'Of course'

'What's the honest answer?'

'Pidge left to spend time with her family.'

"Shit!" Keith remembered, quickly navigating to the menu. ' _Check Credit_ '

' _Credit Remaining: 10 cents_ '

"Ughhhhh..." He groaned.

There was a reply from Shiro.

'You at the group home?'

'Yeah I am. Can't reply anymore, not got any credit left on this stupid thing.'

Keith threw the phone across the room, the device coming to rest on top of his jacket.

No more than a minute later, the ringtone played.

He furrowed an eyebrow, rushing off the bed and picking it up.

'Shiro'

Keith beamed, clicking accept.

"You got any plans tonight?" There was a playfulness to his voice.

* * *

"Woah!"

Keith stood back to admire the crafts in front of him.

"You ever been on a hoverbike before?"

"My Dad, he had one."

Shiro smiled. "Then you should be a natural." He handed the kid a pair of goggles.

Keith's eyes widened. "Seriously?"

"Yeah."

"Oh my god..." He smiled, rushing up onto one of the hoverbikes.

"Take it easy when you first..." Before Shiro could finish, Keith had put the goggles on and started the bike up. Within seconds, he was speeding off into the distance before kicking the tail round to bring it back over. "Wow."

"What a beast!" Keith commented.

"Good, I've been working on getting that thing working for years. It's not an easy job."

"Well you did amazing, it handles so well."

"It helps when it's driven by a natural." Shiro smiled.

Keith scoffed. "Sure..."

"You know, one of these days you'll actually accept a compliment."

"Nah, it's not really my style." He smirked. "Now come on old-timer, I'll race ya'."

"Who you calling old-timer?" Shiro laughed, putting on his goggles and climbing onto the hoverbike. He revved the engine. "Try to keep up." He smiled before speeding off.

Keith beamed, flooring it after him.

* * *

The sand below them kicked up as the hoverbikes glided over it's surface.

"Woo hoooooooo!" Keith screamed, the wind rushing through his hair.

In the distance they approached a cliff.

"Shiro!" He called.

But this only caused to him to rev the engine even higher before he sped over the edge.

Keith threw the bike to a stop, side-on from the cliff and watched as Shiro stuck the landing. "Woah."

* * *

The sun was beginning to set as Keith caught up with Shiro at the bottom of the canyon.

He shut off the engine before climbing down from the bike.

"Woo." Keith chuckled, removing his goggles. "All right. You won this round, but I'll get you in the next race, old-timer."

Shiro laughed.

"I don't doubt it."

"How'd you do that dive anyway?"

Shiro smiled. "You liked that one, huh? It's all about timing. You pull up too soon and you won't have the momentum need to create lift. Too late, and there won't be enough lift to avoid the crash."

Keith looked up at Shiro.

"You think I'm ready to try that?"

Shiro crossed his arms.

"What do you think?"

Keith considered his answer.

"Maybe I should be patient, and keep focusing on the basics first."

"Ahh, you're learning." Shiro smiled, clearly impressed. He looked around at the desert. "So, you grew up out here?"

"Yep, just me and my Pop."

"And you met Katie..." He corrected himself. "Pidge, in the system?"

Keith took a breath, leaning back against the hoverbike.

"Yeah, we were both fostered by Kristie. She came along after I did, and then I just took care of her."

"Well you did an amazing job, she's a very headstrong young woman."

Keith shrugged it off before turning to Shiro.

"Am I being a dick?"

"What?"

"About the whole thing with Pidge's family? I know I should be happy for her, and I am, I just..."

"Can't help feeling that you're going to be left behind?" Shiro added. "Keith, she's probably got so much going through her head right now, and everything's still so fresh that she's still processing it all. That doesn't mean she'll just drop you the first chance she gets, you're her brother."

"But I'm not. I'm not anything to her, not really. Matt is her brother. Commander Holt is her Dad. She has a Mom! They even have a fucking dog! How am I ever going to compete with that?"

"It's not about choice, and it doesn't need to be."

Keith's expression hardened. "I would _**never**_  make her choose. But I can't help feeling that removing myself from the equation would just be easier for everyone."

"Keith..."

"What?! It's true."

"You have been more of a part of her life than they have. She grew up with you, and the two of you are inseparable. I've seen the way she looks at you like you could hook the moon if she asked you to. There is no way she would just leave you."

Keith looked close to tears.

"I keep doing this to myself. I keep getting too close. Too attached. And the only person who ends up getting hurt is me. Everyone else has their perfect little lives made even more perfect by the fact that I'm not in it. Everyone fucking leaves and I hate it. I hate it so much. It sucks." He sniffled, quickly wiping away a tear as he tried to not look like he was crying.

"There is so much good in you, Keith, and your file couldn't be further from the truth on how they paint you. It just takes five minutes of talking to you to see that you are one of the sweetest, most caring, selfless kids you could possibly meet. You would do anything for the people you love, and that is a trait you should be so proud of. I'm sorry that so much has happened to you in your past, but hand on heart, you have an incredible future ahead of you, you just have to work out the path. The way you fly, that's just sheer talent, and I can't honestly wait to see you in that simulator because I don't think my record is going to be around for much longer once you get the hang of it, that's how good you are."

Shiro paused, taking a breath and looking at the kid. He looked lost for words. After a few seconds, Keith slowly closed the gap between them, wrapping his arms around Shiro's waist.

"Thank you."

He smiled, hugging the kid back.

"You've got me, Keith, remember that."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Be sure to leave a comment, I would love to hear your thoughts :)


	11. Chapter 11

Keith had seen increasingly less and less of Pidge in the run up to the start of term. She had been spending time with her family, and barely any back at the group home with him. He had tried not to let it get to him, remembering what Shiro had said about it all just being new and exciting for her. Maybe Garrison life would bring them back together. Or maybe not.

Shiro had shown him to his dorm before having to dash off to show more new students around.

He was sharing, the other bunk still unclaimed. Keith placed his half-broken backpack down on the bed and began unpacking. Most would probably find the levels of storage at the Garrison to be ridiculously small, but he found that his entire life fit in barely a fourth of his dedicated side of the dorm room.

Tucking the backpack away under the bed, he lay down.

Before he had the chance to even exhale, the door slid open and a boy walked in.

"Solo estoy tratando de ayudar, Lance, soy tu mamá, es mi trabajo molestarte." A female voice asked in a language that Keith guessed was either Spanish or Portuguese.

"¡Si mamá! Revisé la lista tres veces antes de irnos. Está bien."

The woman turned to Keith. "Ahh, Lance, your roommate." She approached with her and outstretched. "Nice to meet you, cariño."

"Uhh, my name is Keith, but nice to meet you too."

A group of older teens at the door smirked. The two who appeared the oldest were in plains clothes, and the younger two were wearing the same grey uniform as Shiro.

The woman, clearly the Mom, turned to them with a frown. "Cuando estabas aprendiendo inglés, me reí de ti cuando cometiste errores, ¿verdad? No, no lo hice, así que aprende algunos modales." She appeared to lecture.

Keith awkwardly slunk back on the bed, wishing he was anywhere else.

"This is Lance." The woman introduced. "And those four in the doorway are Luis, Rachel, Marco, and Veronica."

He offered a small smile to them.

"Lance, do you need any help to unpack?"

"Nah, I got this." The boy smiled.

"Then I hope you have the best time." The woman smiled. "We're so proud of you, mi pequeño piloto."

"Mamá, you're embarrassing me." He groaned.

The woman laughed, pressing a kiss to his cheek before waving goodbye.

The door to the room closed leaving just Keith and Lance.

Lance risked a glance at his roommate.

"Sorry about that."

Keith shook his head. "It's fine, I didn't really understand anything, if you're worried about being embarrassed."

Lance smirked.

"Never learned Spanish, huh?"

He scoffed. "I can barely read English."

"That's always helpful."

Keith smirked. "Yeah, it's great."

Lance looked around. "You still need to unpack too?"

He immediately blushed. "No, uhh, this is, this is me unpacked."

"Oh..."

Keith tried to laugh off the awkwardness, but it didn't really achieve anything.

Lance furrowed an eyebrow as he approached one of the photo frames on his sidetable.

"Is that Takashi Shirogane?"

"Uh, yeah."

The boy's eyes lit up. "Dude! He's like my hero. The guy broke every record there is to break."

"Yeah, so people keep telling me."

"You raced hoverbikes with him?"

Keith nodded.

"Where did you meet him?"

"I've known him for a while now."

"Wait... What?!"

"He's a friend."

Lance's eyes widened. "You're _friends_ with Takashi Shirogane?!"

Keith didn't understand the reaction.

"I guess so."

"That's awesome, dude!"

"And who's the chick? She your girlfriend?" Lance asked.

"Sister." Keith enjoyed replying, watching the embarrassment in the other's boy expression rise.

"Uhhh..."

"It's fine." He smirked.

The door to the room opened again. In walked Pidge.

”Keith!” She exclaimed.

”Pidge, you can’t just walk in here, it’s not just my room.”

Pidge seemed to only then notice the presence of Lance.

”Oh, sorry. Nice to meet you.”

Lance nodded. “You too.”

”So what did you wanna’ tell me?”

She looked extremely excited, pulling something out from behind her back. “Look!”

Keith took the offered piece of paper.

‘Pidge Holt’

“You changed your name?”

”Yeah!” She beamed. “Dad helped me do it.”

Keith didn’t know how to feel. “When did you do this?”

”Oh, he’s been working out all the nitty gritty stuff for the past few weeks.”

”Well I’m glad you’re happy, Pigeon.” He smiled, not really sure if he really felt it.

”I’m gonna go show, Matt. See you around!” She rushed off.

”See ya.”

After a few seconds, Keith spoke up.

”What’s your first subject?”

Lance grabbed his schedule.

”Math in 114.”

“Same.”

"Thank god, I hate not knowing anyone in classes."

Keith smiled.

* * *

"Sign in on the screen beside the door." The tutor instructed.

Keith grabbed the electronic pen.

Thinking back to the conversation with Pidge, he had an idea.

'Keith Kogane' He wrote before submitting and handing the pen to Lance.

'Lance McClain' He saw him write.

Lance looked up at him with a smirk.

"Not what you were expecting for a surname, huh?"

Keith shrugged. "Mine's Korean but I've never been there. No judgement, man."

They walked in and took their seats at a table towards the back of the room.

Pidge entered a few seconds later and sat on the desk beside theirs.

After a few minutes, the tutor approached the classroom, taking the tablet off the doorway and scrolling through it.

He could be seen furrowing an eyebrow.

"Kogane?"

Keith's eyes widened.

'Oh fuck...'

"Yes?"

"Excuse me?!"

"I mean, yes, Sir." He remembered to stand and salute.

"This your real name, cadet?"

Keith nodded.

"You sure about that?"

"I-"

"It's against Garrison policy to sign in under an alias. Make sure this doesn't happen again."

"But-"

"It's not a debate, cadet."

Keith bit his tongue to stop himself from saying anymore, slumping back down into his seat as he muttered 'Yes, Sir'.

Lance looked flabbergasted.

"Dude, the hell was that?"

"Nothing." He shut down the conversation.

* * *

Three classes later, and Keith finally had something to look forward to.

The simulator.

Shiro was there to show the cadets how everything worked, and he couldn't help but smile at the sight of his friend.

He'd made sure to sign as 'Kogane' for every single register that day, with most tutors having pulled him up on it quite spectacularly in front of the class. Shiro however, would never do that.

"You're last, buddy." 

Keith jumped at the hand on his shoulder, not having realised that Shiro had moved from his spot and walked over.

"Great..."

"It's fine, means you've got more time to observe everyone else."

"Everyone has the same mission and terrain?"

"Yup."

Keith smiled. "Awesome."

* * *

"Lance, you're up." Shiro called.

Keith smiled at his roommate.

"You got this, just take your time. If it's anything like the one I flew, the controls stick a little, and they do it purposely to see how you react to it."

Lance nodded. "Thanks, dude."

"No problem. Good luck."

Lance walked off and climbed into the simulator.

Keith made his way in front of the monitors.

The three pips sounded before the screen lit up with the course.

Lance made an okay start, but struggled to get the power down currently to make the most of the initial straight run down to the first set of obstacles. He effectively dodged the asteroids but forgot to adjust ready to make the tight turn ahead and therefore clipped the wing on the side of the canyon. Regardless he continued on down towards the first wave of enemy ships. Flying with a damaged wing proved a nightmare for balancing the ship out and before long, he found himself missing the turn and colliding with the sidewall.

The door opened to the simulator and Lance climbed out looking visibly disappointed.

"For a first try, that was really good, Lance." Shiro praised.

Lance nodded but clearly didn't believe a word. He headed back over to Keith.

"Dude, that was impossible."

"Keith!" Shiro called. "You're up."

He took a breath, thankful for the reassurance pat on the shoulder Lance gave him before he shot one last smile to Shiro and climbed inside the simulator. As the screen lit up, it asked for a name.

'KOGANE'

'Loading...'

Hands on the controls, he locked it into position before the three pips beeped.

Immediately deploying the thrusters, he sped down the straight section before dodging the asteroids, next he swung the craft around the corner, the back end purposely tailing out to drift him under the enemy ships, shooting them from below and taking them out in one sweep, he then corrected the ship to continue straight ahead. Next it was the twisty turny section through the canyon, no enemies, just handling manoeuvres, he could do that. Finding the perfect line through, he managed to keep his speed to the max and before long was out of the canyons. Next, he had no clue. No one in the class had gotten this far. He approached a cliff, much like the one he'd seen Shiro dive off on the hoverbike.

' _You pull up too soon and you won't have the momentum need to create lift. Too late, and there won't be enough lift to avoid the crash._ ' He remembered.

Throwing his now re-charged thrusters into action, he faced the cliff head on, making sure to keep the ship neat as he left the ground behind, sailing over the edge and down towards the salt plains below. Not yet, not yet, not yet, now! He threw the sticks back, levelling the ship out, letting out a 'woo!' of excitement as he continued on towards the finish line. 100 metres to go. Nothing was in sight, just a straight dash. Not ten seconds later, he crossed it.

' _LEVEL COMPLETE_ '

Keith couldn't believe it.

' _KOGANE: SCORE - 468_ '

'Was that good or bad? What was this out of? Oh god, did he do something wrong? What if it was out of 1000?'

The door to the simulator opened and Shiro looked speechless.

"What's wrong? I did bad, didn't I?" Keith worried, turning back to the screen, which had now changed.

' _TOP SCORES_

_SHIROGANE - 500_

_KOGANE - 468_ '

Keith's eyes widened as his stomach plummeted.

Did he just nearly beat Shiro?!

For any form of clues of what was happening, he turned back to his friend who was now beaming.

Shiro went to speak but a bellowing voice beat him to it.

"What is the meaning of this?!"

"Commander Iverson." Shiro saluted as he approached. "Have you seen our cadets score-"

He walked straight past to Keith, who slunk back in the pilot's seat.

"You have been told about signing in under an alias! This is your fourth violation today!" He screamed, looking at the screen. "Your score is void."

"What? No!" Keith argued.

"And you've gotten yourself a weeks detention. You need to learn the way things work here, Cadet."

"Commander Iverson, there is no need to wipe his score. The detentions are fair, but please, he worked hard to get onto that scoreboard." Shiro defended.

The Commander took a breath. "Fine, the score stands, but if you do this again then it won't just be your score I wipe, it'll be Senior Officer Shirogane's here too, which means no more records."

Keith's face went pale. "You... you can't do that..." He stumbled for words. "You can throw whatever punishments you want at me, but please don't do anything to Shiro."

"What did you just say?"

"Emm, I meant Senior Officer Shirogane, Sir..." He corrected with a wince.

"Get out of my sight, cadet. Dorm arrest until tomorrow."

Keith felt ill as the stares of the other students followed him across the room. He didn't look at Lance, not wanting to see the face of another person he'd ruin any chance of friendship with.

"Commander Iverson..." He could still hear Shiro fighting this.

' _Don't do this, Shiro. I'm not worth it. Don't lose your records because of me._ ' He mentally begged.

Walking back to the dorm was like a walk of shame, and he'd already gotten himself punished on the very first day.

Things were looking great...

 


	12. Chapter 12

"Commander Iverson!" Shiro called as he followed him down the corridor.

"Remember that meeting we had where you were telling me how much we needed this kid? It must have slipped your mind to mention that he was going to repeatedly commit a crime on his first day, or that he was a cheat."

Shiro furrowed an eyebrow.

"Cadet Jacobs is no cheat. You can watch that simulator run back a thousand times if you have to, but there was no tampering involved, he drove that mission to a high enough standard to be 32 points away from my own score."

"The phrase 'if something seems too good to be true, it probably is' has served me well over the years. This seems like one of those times."

They entered the main office where Commander Holt was mulling around.

"Commander Holt." Shiro saluted.

"Shiro, good to see you." He looked to Iverson. "Oh boy, what's wrong now?"

"I suspect the Jacobs boy of tampering with the simulator. I am also not impressed with the manner in which he insists upon freely breaking the legal policies of the Garrison."

"I developed that simulator myself, it's tamper proof by it's very design." Sam defended.

"Then how exactly did a cadet achieve a score of 468 on their first try of the mission created to average totals no higher than 300?"

"Because as you just said, that's the average. If a cadet has talent beyond those of their peers, they are going to get scores that range beyond that margin. You're standing in front of one of them."

"Shirogane's score came from a Term 2 run after six months of Garrison life. You're telling me that this kid can just waltz in here and nearly beat him just like that?"

"I told you in that meeting, he's better than me. Six months from now, I guarantee there will be a new name at the top of that list." Shiro stated, proudly.

"How does he already know how to fly? The first scenario has the cliff jump, right?"

He smiled. "I've been spending some time with the kid over the month and a half before term started. Keith's a natural, and he's been seeing me make that exact jump on the plains."

"Well it still doesn't excuse the fact that he's been signing under an alias!" Iverson pulled up his tablet. "Four counts of it, plus the simulator scoreboard." He turned the screen to show Commander Holt.

Sam looked up at Shiro.

"You're his mentor, right?"

He nodded.

"Could you find out why he's doing this and report back to me, please? The kid is far more likely to talk to you about it then either of us."

"Yes, Sir."

* * *

Once the day of Keith's dorm arrest had elapsed, Shiro shot a text to the kid saying he was free to visit his and Adam's Garrison apartment whenever he wanted. He hoped the invitation would mean that he could talk to Keith about the alias incidents.

Not twenty minutes after he sent the message, the door opened.

"Uhhhaghhh!" Keith growled, angrily as he stormed in.

"Hello to you too, Keith." Adam greeted.

Shiro walked over.

"How are you doing?"

"Oh, just great..." He answered, sarcastically, looking to either of them for approval to sit on the couch.

Shiro motioned to it.

Keith flopped down.

"What's up?" Adam asked, taking a drink from his coffee.

"I got detention from Iverson, and just finished dorm arrest for 'repeat violation of signing legal forms under an alias'." He quoted. "It's not an alias, it's my own fucking name."

"What are you signing as?"

"Keith Kogane."

"What's your current surname?"

"Jacobs."

"How did you end up with that anyway?"

"It's called being eight and some rich bastard family thinking they can own you by changing your fucking surname to whatever they want." Keith sighed. "It's not fair, Pidge already has her proper surname back."

"That was fast." Shiro commented.

"Yeah, her parents sorted it out through the courts and stuff."

"So no more Katie Phillips."

"Well seeing as she's now Pidge Holt, nope."

"She changed her first name too?"

"I'm not sure why she did that, 'cause like, the reason she didn't want people to call her Katie was because she would get angry thinking about how her parents had ditched her, so she went by Pidge instead. But like, she's fine with her parents now, they're cosied up together having all the fun in the world, so why did she change it?"

"Well she's pretty use to it by now. Maybe she still didn't want people to call her Katie."

"But she didn't even tell me she was doing it. And I was the one who came up with the nickname Pidge in the first place, so it just hurt a little."

"So why don't you change yours too?" Adam spoke up.

"Because I don't have four-hundred bucks, anyway of doing the court stuff, or a case worker anymore."

"Keith, I'm so sorry." Shiro sighed, genuinely.

"I just want to not be stuck with someone else's surname. I hate it, you have no idea how degrading it is. I'm not a dog that you can just name." He quickly wiped away a tear with the sleeve of his jacket, hoping neither of them had seen it.

"Hey..." Shiro took a seat on the couch next to the kid. "We'll see what we can do, okay?"

"No." Keith sniffled. "You do too much for me already."

Adam smirked. "Trust me, he's a Care Bear type, there's no end to the amount of help he can dish out."

Shiro rolled his eyes.

Keith laughed, a smile coming to his face.

"I need to report to Commander Holt about you signing under an alias."

"Why?"

"Because I'm your mentor, and we have to report back to a senior member of staff. For you it's Sam."

"Uhh." Keith groaned.

"It could be so much worse." Adam stated.

"I know but... I don't know."

"It's weird because of everything with Pidge?" Shiro filled in the gaps.

Keith nodded.

"Sam is a nice guy, I have faith in him."

"Iverson, not so much." Adam added with a smirk.


	13. Chapter 13

Returning to the dorm, Lance was lying on his bed reading a comic.

“El rebelde regresa.” He smirked.

“Again, no clue what that means.”

“Nevermind.” Lance dumped the comic and shuffled his feet over the edge of the mattress. “Wanna get some food from the commissary?”

“Sure.”

“Awesome. Estoy tan hambriento que podría comer un caballo..”

“Will you stop.” Keith giggled.

Lance beamed, mischievously.

* * *

Sat at a table happily eating away at the day’s specials, Lance looked up at Keith.

“All that about your name, I was wondering what name you want me to call you?”

“Kogane.” Keith answered.

“I haven’t seen that before.”

“What?”

“Changing your surnames like that? It’s strange.”

Keith furrowed an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

“Well siblings don’t just change their surnames. First name are normal, but I wouldn’t want to change my last name, it’s what ties you to your family.”

Keith still looked confused.

“You and Pidge. She just changed her name, you want to change yours. If you do that, you’ll both have different surnames. Why would you want to do that?”

“Ohhh, you don’t know.” It suddenly clicked for Keith as he talked under his breath to himself.

Lance looked confused.

“Pidge is my sister through us being with the same foster parent. Her surname is Holt, but someone had given her Phillips along the way so she changed it back.”

Lance looked like a fish out of water with an expression that showed he clearly felt uncomfortable for having brought it up.

“It’s not taboo, you know. I don’t care about talking about it.”

He nodded.

“So yeah, my only sister is Pidge, sorta. How did you manage with four siblings, especially being the youngest?”

“I like it. They’re very protective of me. Veronica likes to say that she’s not, but she totally punched someone who was bullying me once, so you know, she doesn’t really have anyway to deny it.”

“Is she the closest in age to you?”

“Yeah. Luis is married now and he has a kid with his wife. Mom has been bugging Rachel to propose to Alejandro for a while now, but she still hasn’t done it yet. Marco is in his last year here, and then he’s going to become a field nurse. And Veronica is heading for a job as technical engineer once she’s graduated, so she’ll be around the whole time I’m here at least, and probably beyond then too.”

Keith’s heart hurt as he listened to Lance talk about his extensively large family, continuing on to mention his Mom’s job as a baker, his Dad the engineer, his Abuelo who taught him how to play guitar, his Abuela who he would always dance with when he was younger. Everything sounded so mystically perfect.

“Keith?”

Keith snapped out of his daze.

“Yeah?”

“You okay, buddy?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Sorry, just thinking.”

“I’m probably boring you hearing about my family.”

“No, no, it’s nice.” Keith reassured with a smile. "There's nothing wrong with a little normality."

Lance smirked. "You're weird."

"Thank you." He laughed. "So what are your plans for tonight?"

"My world famous skincare routine and a movie."

"Fancy."

"Don't knock it til' you try it." Lance grinned. "Not all of us can look this good."

Keith rolled his eyes with a smirk.

* * *

Lying on his bed, Keith winced at the pain in his chest. Reaching over for the mobile phone, he text Pidge.

'Still need to sort out the prescription here. Anyway you could do your magic again?'

'I got you' Came the reply.

'You're the best, sis xxx' Keith smiled.

'Love you xxx'

The door to the room opened as Lance walked in.

"Mójol."

"What does that mean?"

"Mullet."

"I don't have a mullet..." Keith threw a sock at him.

Lance ducked to miss it with a smirk.

"Yes you do."

"You suck."

"Thank you."

Keith went to pick up the sock and was tackled by Lance as he attempted to cross to the other side of the room, the two of them tumbling to the ground giggling, Lance managing to pin the black-haired boy to the floor.

"Okay, okay!" Keith pushed him off, breathing heavy.

Lance furrowed an eyebrow.

He winced, rubbing his chest, it hurt a little and his breathing definitely felt weird.

"Fuck."

Lance really looked concerned now.

"Keith?"

"Get... Shiro..." He panted.

"Shit!" Lance sprinted off.

* * *

No more than two minutes later, Shiro and Adam came sprinting into the room with Lance close behind.

"Keith! Keith. What's wrong?" Shiro knelt down beside the boy who was leaning back against his bed on the floor.

"It hurts to breathe." He rasped.

Shiro went to place his hand on Keith's chest but his wrist was immediately caught.

"Please, don't." The kid looked terrified, his expression begging.

"Keith, I have to.”

"No, no, please..."

"What’s worrying you, buddy?" Shiro asked, softly.

"Could it just be you?" Keith's voice was so small and childlike.

"Of course." Shiro turned to his boyfriend. "Adam could you take Lance back to ours while I take care of Keith, please?"

Adam nodded, gently corralling a very worried Lance out of the room.

"So what's the problem?"

Keith remained silent.

Shiro took a breath and carried on, gently lifting Keith's shirt, eyes widening on realisation.

The kid wouldn't even look him in the eye, his gaze lost and empty.

Ace bandages wrapped clearly too tight.

Shiro bit his lip.

"Keith, this is dangerous, you must know that. Why would you use these?" He tried to keep his anger down.

He still didn't say a word.

"You have to take them off."

"No!" That certainly got a reaction.

"Keith, you don't have a choice, you're struggling to breathe and damaging your ribs."

The kid took hold of his wrist, petrified and desperate.

"Please, please..."

"We will figure something out, okay? There are other ways of doing this. Safer ways."

"I can't afford them." Keith muttered, barely audibly.

"Hey..." Shiro spoke up, softly, squeezing the wrist the kid had outstretched to him. "We will find another way. I promise."

Keith smiled.

"Thank you."

Shiro hated that the kid was thanking him for just being a decent human being. It said a lot about the kinds of people in his life previously.

There was silence for a few seconds.

"You never even mentioned it."

"Mentioned what?" He furrowed an eyebrow.

"What this means." Keith motioned to the bandages.

"Does it matter? You're Keith."

The kid's smile was precious, that clearly not being the answer he was expecting.

"How did you become Keith anyway, considering all the problems you're having with your surname?"

"Remember back at the detention centre when I mentioned that family who sent me back after they got pregnant?"

"Yeah."

"They felt bad about doing it, because they did really seem to like me, so as a sort of apology present they did all the legal shit and paid for it to be changed for me. I am really grateful to them, otherwise I would still be someone that I'm not. I honestly didn't care about going back to the group home too much after they did that."

Shiro looked at the bandages before back at Keith. "I'll do you a deal. We take these off, and get you down to the medical wing."

Keith went to protest.

"Let me finish..." He added, softly. "And after that, we can do some research in my apartment tonight about what you could get instead of them, because I'm not joking around when I say that you are not using these things again."

The kid took a breath. "Okay."

Shiro nodded. "Okay. Do you want to or should I?"

Keith shrugged, not caring.

He gently began to unwrap the bandages before shoving them into the pocket of his trousers, not wanting to leave them around for Lance to find and ultimately quiz Keith about later.

"Could you text Pidge, please?"

Shiro nodded. "Sure, kiddo." He helped Keith put his shirt back on before taking off his jacket and wrapping it around the kid so that all attention was off anything that Keith wouldn't want to be seen. "You good?"

Keith scoffed, but just looked more sad than anything.

"Sure."

"Let's go."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Listen to Space Dad. Don’t ever use ace bandages. It doesn’t matter that they’re always what you see in movies and TV shows, they’re seriously dangerous.
> 
> Get yourself a binder like Shiro is going to for Keith and make sure that you do not wear it for more than 8-10 hours per day. 
> 
> Or if you want something completely free from any risk, consider a sports or compression bra. They’re comfy and provide support too. They are also the only safe option for exercising in, if you have a more active lifestyle.
> 
> Be sure to read up on articles relating to binding too, they’re extremely helpful and essential for binding safely.


	14. Chapter 14

“Keith!” Exclaimed a familiar voice as a blur of Pidge could be seen entering the room. She rushed over to the doctor’s table her brother was sat on.

“Hey, Pigeon.” Keith held out his hand to help her up, wincing slightly as the movement pulled his already sore chest. Regardless, he wrapped an arm around her and hugged his sister close.

“I told you not to use those things, you promised me you were only using the sports bra.”

“I don’t have it anymore.”

She furrowed an eyebrow.

“What do you mean you don’t have it anymore? What happened to it?”

“It went missing at the group home, and I never found it.”

“Then why the heck didn’t you just ask me for another one?”

“Because they’re yours.”

“Keith... how many sports do you think I do to need a sports bra?” She deadpanned, hitting him lightly on the arm before smirking. “Moron.”

“I just didn’t want people to see me like that here. It’s my first fresh start.”

“They don’t have to, but trying to damage all that important shit in your chest isn’t gonna’ do you any favours.” Pidge stated.

Keith took a deep breath. “I’ve missed you, Pigeon.”

Pidge snuggled in closer. “I’ve missed you too.” Her eyes travelled around the dimly lit room. “You here by yourself?”

Before he had the chance to answer, Shiro walked in.

“Pidge.” He smiled.

“Hi, Shiro.” She smiled back. “You been looking after him?”

“Sir, yes, Sir?” He saluted.

“Good.” She giggled. “At ease.”

“Thank you, Sir.” Shiro smirked, taking a seat with his mug of coffee that he’d clearly just walked back to his apartment to make.

Keith shook his head. “You two...”

“...are amazing?” She suggested with a grin.

“Are a menace.” He finished, pulling her snapback down over her eyes.

She groaned, putting the cap back and fixing her hair before sticking a middle finger up in front of him, her nail painted a close shade of light green to her signature hoodie.

“Ooh, someone learnt how to actually paint nails.”

Pidge rolled her eyes.

“My roommate did them.”

Keith smiled.

”They look nice.”

They were interrupted as the doctor walked into the room.

“You’re free to go, just try and rest up for a few days. Nothing strenuous. I’ll give you a note.”

“Thanks.” Keith nodded.

“No problem, cadet.” The doctor left.

“Wait here.” Pidge jumped down from the table and rushed off.

Shiro turned to Keith.

“How you feeling, kiddo?”

“Fine, just, I don’t know, worried, I guess.”

“What’s troubling you?”

“The Garrison. They already don’t like me, and they especially don’t like me trying to change my name. What are they gonna’ be like if they find out about this?”

“There is nothing they can do. You’re a boy. Your name is Keith. And your surname is Kogane regardless of what your current record states.”

“What if Pidge can’t hack my prescription? What if they won’t let me have it?” Keith was getting more and more wound up as tears came to his eyes. “I don’t want to become that other person again.”

“Hey, hey...” Shiro approaches him and gently pulled him close. “If the Garrison won’t allow you your testosterone then we’ll find somewhere that will.”

Shiro thought back on what Keith had said.

“What was that part about Pidge? Has she been hacking it?”

Keith looked at him with an expression that said ‘obviously’.

“Do you know how much this shit costs? I don’t have insurance, and most of them don’t even cover stuff like this. I’m also a fucking orphaned ex-foster kid currently living off zero income at a space/military school thing funded by pitty scholarships. How else would I be getting testosterone help exactly?”

Keith took a breath.

“Sorry, I-“ He scrubbed a hand down his face. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to snap.”

“It’s fine, kiddo.”

“No it’s not. You’re too nice to me and I’m just not fucking worth all this.”

“That is not true!”

“It is, you just can’t see it...” Keith answered, sadly.

Before Shiro could say anymore, Pidge returned.

“Et viola!” She threw her brother over a sports bra. “That’s my last one so don’t lose it this time, yeah?”

Keith smiled.

“You are a lifesaver.”

“I’m amazing, I know.” She smirked.

Keith pressed a kiss to her crown.

“Yes you are.”

Pulling off his shirt, he quickly put the bra on before replacing the plain black shirt.

He patted his chest in various places before smiling, clearly happy with the difference the bra made to his appearance.

“Keith...” Shiro spoke up, softly. “I think you should talk to Captain Holt about this.”

“What? Why?”

“He’s in charge of student wellbeing here, this is definitely his field.” Pidge supplied.

“Talk to him about what?”

“I think you might need some therapy, bud.” Shiro suggested. “It’ll really help how you’re feeling.”

“I don’t need therapy, I’m not crazy.”

“That’s not what therapy is, Keith, and I’m pretty sure you already know that. It’s about talking things over that you struggle with, and exploring ways in which you can help yourself feel better.”

“We could go together.” Pidge smiled, taking her brother’s hand and giving it a squeeze. “After Kristie, we both need it.”

“I’ll do it for Pidge.” Keith stated.

“You have to want to do it for yourself too, you butt.” She smirked.

“Fine...” He pretended to groan.


	15. Chapter 15

Sat on the couch in Shiro and Adam’s apartment, Keith was contently drinking a mug of hot chocolate.

Adam had long sent Lance back to the dorm, and Shiro had managed to get Captain Holt to write up a note to excuse Pidge being in the halls after curfew, to make sure she wouldn’t get into any trouble.

It was 2AM now and Keith was trying not to fall asleep.

“Can whatever you need to do not wait ‘til morning?” Adam asked, softly.

“It’s Keith’s decision. I’ll do whatever.” Shiro answered.

Keith gingerly reached forward and placed the mug down on the coffee table. He then nervously looked up at Adam.

“I need to tell you something.”

Adam looked terrified, head turning to his boyfriend.

“Oh god, I thought you’d text me saying everything was fine?”

“I did.” Shiro answered. “It’s not medical.”

Adam let out the biggest sigh of relief. “Jesus, kid, don’t do that to me.”

Keith smirked. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to.”

“It’s all good.”

He took a breath. “Adam, I’m trans.”

Adam beamed, rushing over and pulling him up to his feet into a big hug.

Keith looked taken aback.

“Awwww, I’m so proud of you!” He exclaimed.

Keith smiled, glancing to Shiro who gave him a look of ‘you really thought he wouldn’t be supportive of you?’ before smiling too.

“The little terror you’re hugging was in the medical wing because he’s been using ace bandages and they caused him to struggle breathing.”

Adam looked horrified. “Yeah, please don’t do that.”

“That’s why we’re buying him a binder, and a bunch of sports bras.”

“Damn, that’s gonna’ look amazing on the card bill.” Adam teased.

Keith laughed.

* * *

Lying in bed, Shiro’s gaze fell to his boyfriend.

“Adam... are you awake?”

“No, because you suck at whispering...” Adam shot back. “Takashi, we went to bed at 4AM, you can’t possibly think this is a good time to talk.”

“I’m sorry, I just want to say how much I love you.”

Adam turned over to face him.

“What’s brought this on?” He asked, softly.

“The way you didn’t even flinch when Keith told you he was trans, it just made me fall even more in love with you. You should have seen the smile he had on his face when you pulled him into that hug, it was like so much anxiety had been lifted off him.”

“That kid needs all the fucking love in the world, and I intend to give him it.” Adam answered with a grin.

“Spoken like a true parent.” Shiro teased.

“Yeah, I mean, you always said you wanted kids. We don’t even need to fucking adopt, we already have.”

“You really care about him, don’t you?”

“Of course I do. He reminds me of you when we were younger. Back when you still had that bite.”

“It’s been so long that I can barely remember myself from back then.”

“You learned to control your anger, and you found people who truly cared about you. Sound familiar?”

“I just want him to be safe, and happy, and to have a life, not just having to watch other people live theirs around him.”

“You are an amazing Dad, Shirogane. You’re raising our son well.” Adam teased with a smirk, pressing a soft kiss to his boyfriend’s lips. “But... I will have to murder you if you wake me up again, regardless of whether you say something lovey dovey afterwards, so just warning you.”

Shiro laughed.

“Where would I be without you?”

“Not at the top of every scoreboard...”

Shiro smiled. “Credit to the co-pilot?”

“Sleep, オールドドラゴン.”

Shiro shuffled closer to his boyfriend, wrapping his arms around him as the big spoon.

“おやすみ私の美しい王子。あなたを愛してます。”


	16. Chapter 16

Luckily for everyone, it was the weekend and so they didn't have to wake up two hours after they went to bed to get ready for classes and training.

Adam made Keith eat breakfast and got Shiro to text Lance saying that he could come to their apartment.

Keith was sat with a bowl of cereal at the island when there was a knock at the door.

"I wonder who that could be?" Adam smirked before unlocking the door. "Good morning."

"Morning." Lance smiled, walking in.

"Lance, I'm really sorry about yesterday." Keith gingerly got to his feet.

Lance noticed and immediately supported him back to where he had been sitting.

"There's nothing to apologise for."

"You want some breakfast, Lance?" Adam asked.

"Yes please." He smiled.

"Well there's cereal, and when Takashi decides to get his butt out of the shower, he's doing a fry up."

"I would kill for some bacon right now." Lance looked incredibly content.

Adam smirked. "Your wish is our command."

"I need to tell you something." Keith blurted, clearly having been overthinking how to bring up the subject.

Lance took a seat next to him. "Of course."

"I-..." He paused. "The reason I had to go to the medical wing yesterday. The reason I was struggling to breathe was because I was binding wrong. That's what hurt my ribs." Keith took a breath. "I'm trans, and you deserve to know that because I scared you yesterday and I feel awful about it." He refused to make eye contact.

Lance smiled. "Well I'm honoured you told me."

Keith looked up.

"Can I have a hug?"

Keith nodded, smiling as he wrapped his arms around his roommate.

Adam was grinning too, gaze turning to Shiro as he walked into the main room.

"Morning, Hanzo."

Lance's face lit up as he burst out laughing.

Shiro smirked. "Looks like someone else plays your game."

"It's a classic." Adam defended.

"It's like thirty-years-old now."

"Exactly, a classic." Stood up and grabbed his laptop from the desk. "Just because you're terrible at it."

"You play?" Lance asked.

"Of course I do."

"He's like level 700 or something ridiculous." Shiro commented.

"Hey, some people had that like two years after it came out."

Keith looked lost.

"I have no idea what anyone is talking about."

Shiro placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry, it will end." He whispered.

Keith smirked.

"What time's your session with Sam today?" Shiro asked.

"Woah, you're Diamond?!" Exclaimed Lance.

"Yeah. Wait till you see Matt, he's Grandmaster." Adam answered.

"Not soon enough." Keith joked.


	17. Chapter 17

"So, Keith." Commander Holt began, taking a seat at his desk. "First of all I just want to explain how these sessions are going to go. This is a safe place, anything you say in this office won't leave it, unless obviously it could potentially pose a threat to your life or someone else's, then I have to, by law, report it to someone higher up. I will also make sure, to the best of my ability, that you get the same equal chance as every other student in the Garrison. I want you to succeed, and to leave this school with the best chance of life possible." He paused. "I also want you to know that there aren't enough words to properly articulate how thankful I am that you looked after Katie for all those years."

"You don't have to thank me for that." Keith stated.

"What I'm trying to say is, you're a brother to Katie, just as Matt is, which makes you part of the family, and family looks out for each other. Don't ever feel like you don't have anyone you can turn to for help here. I will always be there to fight in your corner, because I understand just how remarkable it is for you and Katie to have made it here in the first place. You defied a lot of odds to secure your places, and I will be damned if some snot-nosed brat tries to purposely rile you up to make you lose what you worked so hard to achieve."

"Thank you, Sir."

"When it's just us, call me Sam." He smiled.

"I noticed Shiro does."

"Shiro is a friend of mine, has been since he joined the Garrison. He was a lot like you when he came here, but that's his story to tell."

Keith couldn't imagine Shiro being anything like him. The guy was the most calm and collected person he'd ever known.

"Is there anything you would like to talk about? Anything you just want to throw out there?" Sam asked. "Why don't we start with how you're finding the Garrison? I know you've already had a few bumps in the road, but do you feel happy here?"

"I like my roommate, his name is Lance and he's really nice. I also spend a lot of my free time at Adam and Shiro's apartment. They've been amazing."

"What have you been enjoying?"

"The simulator."

Sam smiled. "I thought that's what you'd say."

"Yeah, I just... I don't know, it's fun."

"Did you hurt yourself?" He asked, noticing the kid's winces every so often as he moved.

"Long story." Keith answered.

Sam nodded. "Oh, I need to talk to you about your surname."

Keith groaned.

The Commander smirked, reaching for a folder and sliding it across the desk.

He furrowed an eyebrow.

"What's this?"

Keith took the folder and took out the three pieces of paper inside before slowly starting to read, using his finger to keep track of his place. His eyes widened as he looked up at Sam.

"It just needs a signature from you." The Commander stated with a smile.

"But this costs money. I can't accept this, it's too expensive."

"Like I said, you're family. If one of our kids gets to change their name, it's not fair that the other doesn't." He winked.

Keith didn't know what to say.

"Thank you." His voice was small and weak with emotion.

"No problem, Keith Kogane."

* * *

After the session, Keith could barely contain his excitement as he made his way back to the apartment where Adam and Lance were sat on their laptops still clearly playing whatever game they were talking about that morning. Shiro was on the couch reading, he looked up as the door opened.

"Shiro, look!" He held the piece of paper out to him.

Shiro read it over before grinning.

"Keith, I am so happy for you. Did Sam do that?"

He nodded.

"What's happening?" Lance asked from across the room.

"I'm getting my name changed back to Kogane."

"Aww, that's amazing, Keith." Adam congratulated with a smile.

Lance grinned. "Awesome, dude!"

* * *

Three weeks later and Keith was doing better. His binder had arrived, and he’d gotten the talk from Shiro, who apparently had been doing extensive research on them, about how long he was allowed to wear it for, and what he couldn't do with it on. 

Lance had made friends with a guy called Hunk in engineering class, the two of them assigned seats next to each other. Keith had never met anyone who ate as much as Hunk did, or someone who fussed over how much he was eating either. Whenever Keith would miss lunch, or dinner, Hunk would always be sure to slide snacks towards him in class with notes tied to them saying things like 'I saw that you skipped lunch, you dingus' or 'when my Mom comes to visit she's gonna' fuss over you so much. hope you like baked goods 'cause you're gonna' be inundated with them'.

Keith didn't know what to feel about the upcoming 'Family Day'. On one hand, he really didn't care, but on the other, when he'd read about these things in the Garrison handbook, he'd always just brushed them off knowing that he could just spend the day with Pidge. Now though, Pidge had her own family, and although Sam had made it clear that he was a part of the family too, it still wasn't the same. Maybe he could just hang out with Shiro and Adam, but they probably had duties.

Lance's Mom seem to really take a shine to him, so maybe he would get an invite from them. However, it was Family Day and they were coming from Cuba to see Lance, and with it only being one day, he didn't want to impose on their time together. Maybe he would just keep himself out the way of anyone so that they didn't have to see him on his own and feel inclined to invite him over. The very very last thing he ever wanted to be to anyone was a burden, and there is no way he wouldn't be one on Family Day, considering he was a sadsack without the one thing you needed to actually participate.

His phone began to vibrate. It was a text from Shiro.

'Guess who's name is no longer on the simulator ban list?'

Keith smiled.

'Does that mean you're up for a run?'

'Meet me at the sim room in 10'

Keith stood up from the bed and grabbed his jacket.

Lance walked into the dorm.

"Where you off to?"

"Simulator with Shiro."

"Nice. I'm heading down to the commissary with Hunk."

"Obviously." Keith smirked. "Bring me dessert please."

"Get your own dessert, Kogane." Lance teased, grabbing his garrison ID.

"Pleaseeeeee."

"Fine." He walked out the door.

"Thank you." Keith grinned, quickly changing out of his binder and swapping into the sports bra.

* * *

Shiro was programming the simulator when he walked in.

"So what's it today?" Keith asked.

The senior officer turned to him.

"Drills."

"Ughh." He groaned.

"Sam just added a new rescue mission that they're introducing to the cargo pilot class, and I'm curious to see how you will approach it."

Keith climbed into the simulator and strapped in.

Shiro took the rear seat.

"So, humanitarian crisis. War just broke out and the civilians need aid. Enter the city undetected and drop the cargo."

"Got it."

"Then let's go."

Keith smiled, clicking the joystick into position before the simulation loaded.

'Recruit, this is Alpha Foxtrot Sierra. You will drop the cargo at coordinates -15.787430,-48.776824. Inputting them into your radar now, over."

"Roger that." Keith replied, deploying thrusters.

The plane was much slower than the previous crafts he'd been flying due to it's size and cargo weight, so it took some adjustment in his flying style. He took the plane down lower as he approached the city.

"Be careful on descent, recruit. We want to stay off their radars for as long as possible. Stay on course of the drop zone, over."

"Copy that, approaching the drop zone in t-minus five minutes, no potential threats showing on my radar so far, over."

The city came into view in the distance as Keith looked down at the control panel in front of him.

He read the wind direction display and adjusted, taking the plane further to the left.

"Coming up on the drop zone, prepare to release, over."

"Copy."

Keith flicked the switch to open the bay doors before looking at the radar and hitting the Release button sending the cargo dropping down to the ground, the parachutes opening to ease the aid to the people below.

"Nice work, recruit, now get yourself out of there, over."

"Copy, still no threats on the radar."

Keith closed the bay doors before a small beeping could be heard. The radar suddenly showed numerous approaching fighter class crafts, much faster than his own.

"Shit..."

"Command, do you copy?"

"Loud and clear, recruit."

"Does this thing come with any artillery?"

"You have two missiles, but you do not require them, over."

"That's what I thought. Guess it's just maneuvers then." Keith lied.

"Fighters on your six, over."

"Copy."

"Just get the plane out of the air-zone, recruit, no funny business, over."

Keith looked at the city, he noticed a military base in the distance flying a rebel flag.

"This crisis, the rebel forces, they're the bad guys, right? The ones that have been killing innocent civilians?"

"Affirm. Is this information necessary, recruit."

"Hmm..." Keith smiled, hatching a plan. He veered the plane of course towards the base, the fighters following. He purposely slowed down, the fighter planes struggling to avoid an aircraft as large as his as they barely skimmed past, one losing control slightly before fixing it's trajectory.

"Recruit, what are you doing?"

"Just trust me."

As the fighter planes came towards him, Keith turned the joystick harshly, turning the plane vertical, banking low under them, the two planes clipping each other as Keith's moves confused them., the fighters crashing down.

"Woo!" He celebrated. "Just one more to go."

Approaching the military base, he checked the missiles, loaded and ready.

Target locked, he flicked up the switch before pressing the button, the two missiles whooshing from the aircraft before they followed their coordinates straight to the base, the whole compound going up in one large ball of flames.

Keith grinned at the sight of destroyed tanks and aircraft.

He looked to the radar.

"Entering ally airspace in t-minus two minutes." He applied the thrusters getting himself out over the water away from the country. "This is Golf Tango Charlie requesting permission to land."

"Permission granted, clear for approach, over."

"Copy."

Keith lined up to the runway and deployed landing wheels, taking the craft down steadily, decreasing speed until he came to a stop.

'MISSION COMPLETE'

The doors of the simulator whooshed open.

Keith unstrapped himself before climbing out.

Sam Holt was stood watching the screen alongside numerous older students.

Shiro stepped out, he didn't look pleased.

"The hell was that, you ignored direct orders back there?"

"I used the resources I had to potentially assist in ending the country's crisis. They can't do much without firepower, so I got rid of it, and two of their fighter jets as well."

"You were undertaking a cargo pilot mission, this isn't fighter class."

"Then cargo class is boring." Keith stated.

"You can't just do whatever you want, there are rules. Those missions have been planned for months when we go out into the field, defying them risks not only your life, but the lives of your crew, your fellow pilots, and the people you're trying to protect."

"But no one died, Shiro."

"This time."

"If I may..." Sam Holt began. "When I programmed this scenario I never imagined that someone would ever have the ingenuity to consider even attempting to take on that base, especially seeing as this, like you mentioned Shiro, was a cargo class mission."

The simulator beeped. Keith looked to the screen.

'SCORES

KOGANE - 524'

His eyes widened.

Shiro placed a hand on Keith's shoulder.

"I guess I was wrong." He apologised.

Keith shrugged. "No big deal, I understand why you were annoyed. Sorry for not listening to you, I just got absorbed in the mission."

"It's okay, I had to overcome that myself." Shiro turned to Sam. "See you around, Commander."

"See you around."

Keith and Shiro walked out of the room.

"Thank you for letting me use the sim, I really appreciate it."

"No problem, I'm glad you enjoyed yourself."

"So is first year just cargo class?"

"Yep, just to teach everyone the basics of flying, and then second and third year has the option to progress to and major in fighter class." Shiro explained. "Try not to get too bored, you want to keep these people on your good side if you want extra sim time."

"I'll try." Keith smirked.


	18. Chapter 18

**1 MONTH LATER**

Walking down the corridor towards his and Lance's dorm, Keith didn't feel so great. He'd skipped dinner again, accidentally this time, having arrived in the commissary ten minutes after the canteen closed. Harsh pains in his stomach were wracking him, and he just wanted to curl up under the covers. Keith hoped that Lance would have something in the dorm he could eat, or that maybe Hunk would be around, he always seemed to have something on him.

"Oh my god!" He heard a kid exclaim behind him as he walked down the corridor. "Molly!"

Footsteps became louder before a hand came to rest on his shoulder.

"Hey!" Keith growled, shrugging the hand off him as he turned to it's owner. "Who?..." And then everything clicked into place. Keith's eyes widened as he backed away. "Fuck..." He muttered under his breath, the colour draining out of him.

"So you do remember me." The kid, who he now knew to be Ryan, grinned. "'Cause I certainly remember you."

"What are you doing here?" Keith's voice shook.

"Getting an education, isn't that what schools are for?" Ryan mocked.

"Why here?"

"I feel like I should be the one asking you that, considering how terrible at everything academic you are, or at least used to be. So, who did you suck off to get into a place like this?"

"Stop it..." Keith ground out through gritted teeth.

"What's wrong, Molly?"

"Don't call me that!"

Ryan smirked. "That was the funniest shit in the world. It's like watching an ant under a magnifying glass as the sun shines on it."

"You must have been up all night thinking of that analogy."

Ryan stepped forward and Keith flinched. He laughed.

"I was just about to ask if you were still scared of me, but I think I just got my answer."

"What do you want from me?"

"You ruined everything, you know that, right? My parents are in jail because of you!"

"And I hope they fucking rot in there!" Keith shouted.

Ryan landed a hard punch across his face.

Keith dropped the key card he was holding he went to pick it up but Ryan beat him to it.

"Block C, Dorm 49." He looked at the numbers painted on the doors. "Ahh, this one." He scanned the card before dragging Keith to his feet and practically throwing him through the door.

Keith counted his blessings that Lance wasn't in the room as a hand came to grab him round the neck, constricting his airways as he was brought to his feet once again and shoved against the wall.

The door swished closed.

"I was put in some group home because of you, until my relatives decided they were actually going to give a shit about me."

"Your parents were psychopaths..." Keith ground out.

"My parents are good people!" Ryan screamed, releasing him.

"You know... that's not true." Keith struggled to get his breath back. "But you weren't exactly much better."

"It was middle school. That's the sorta' crap people do back then."

"You tortured me..."

"You were always a over-dramatic piece of shit, weren't you, Molly. The kid who cried wolf."

"And who would I have told? No one ever fucking believed anything I said!"

"Who's fault was that?" Ryan asked. "You're the one who isolated yourself. You're the one who had no friends. It really was a pathetic sight."

"You're a monster, you sick son-of-a-bitch, just like your sick, evil, bastard parents."

"Don't you fucking say anything about them! Just because you were a screw-up who's own parents didn't even want you, doesn't mean you can just dump all that crap on my family. Just be fucking thankful that they even took you in. I mean, who the fuck would?"

Keith scoffed.

Ryan grinned maliciously. "You know... I'm sure the Garrison would love to hear about what's going on under there." He pulled the neck of Keith's shirt to the side revealing his binder.

Keith growled, shoving his hand away.

"Don't touch me!"

"What's wrong Molly? You used to love it so much."

Keith felt like he was going to throw up at any moment. "Stay, the fuck, away from me!" His hands were shaking, his expression that of terror.

Ryan backed Keith under to the wall before placing an arm out, resting his hand against the wall to block his escape before moving his hand to venture under the binder.

Despite the almost hyperventilating level of anxiety and flashbacks he was experiencing, Keith still tried to fight, shoving at the hands.

"It's so cute to see you pretend to be something that you're not. I mean, 'Keith'... Really? Are you really still doing this crap? Did you not learn anything?" Ryan ceased his exploration.

"I learnt that your parents... beating me, starving me, keeping me locked in the fucking bathroom for hours on end, and you... destroying all my possessions, mentally berating me, and doing..." He struggled to keep his breathing under control. "...doing what you did to me, was all the more reason why I wanted no connection to that other person. That wasn't me, and all that crap, that stayed with her." Keith noticed his hand shaking uncontrollably. "And yet. Look at me..." He held it up on show. "That was four years ago, and I'm still scared of what you an your scumbag parents did to me."

"What's wrong, Pumpkin?"

Keith froze at the pet name. "No..." His voice was barely audible.

Ryan laughed. "Oh yes..." He closed the gap between them even further and stroked a hand down Keith's pale cheek before shoving his lips onto him.

"What the fuck?..." Came a voice from the doorway.

Keith looked past Ryan to see Lance, and he nearly cried.

”Don’t let the door hit you on the way out, sweetheart.” Ryan smirked, glancing to Lance before resuming kissing Keith.

"I guess I'll leave you guys to it." Keith noticed that his roommate looked upset too, but clearly for a different reason that Keith had no clue of.

Fighting through every shred of terror plaguing him, Keith locked eyes with Lance before...

"H-help me..." He begged, small and weak.

Lance's eyes widened as he sprung into action, crossing the small room in seconds and elbowing Ryan in the back of the head, knocking him away from Keith and down to the floor.

Keith struggled to breathe as he scrambled onto his bed, huddling into the corner.

He wasn't hearing anything anymore, only vaguely able to make out the form of his roommate punching his former foster placement's son on the floor of their dorm room.

Iverson stormed in, shouting something before tearing Lance away from Ryan.

He found himself falling back into everything as Lance screamed, animalistically.

"I'm gonna' kill you!"

Iverson was holding the two of them apart.

"You hear that, Molly?" Ryan coughed, blood dribbling from his mouth. "You've got a friend who gives a shit. That must be nice. Who's entertaining him? Molly or Keith?"

Keith gagged, grabbing the trash can just in time to throw up into it, violently.

"Aghhhhh!" Lance growled, charging at Ryan once again before being grabbed.

This time is was Adam who looked very confused and also terrified.

"Get Cadet McClain out of here, that's an order!" Iverson bellowed.

"That fucker is the one that needs to get out of here!" Lance shouted.

"Do not talk to me with that language or tone, Cadet..." The Commander threatened.

"What is going on?!" Adam asked, he turned back towards the hallway, clearly hoping to find Shiro.

"Ask him!" Lance fought the hold, causing Adam to have to wrap his arms entirely around the Cadet. "Ask him what happened!"

Ryan laughed.

"I was just reminding Molly of some good times we used to have."

Lance's teeth were clenched in pure anger.

"Molly..." Adam mumbled under his breath before turning to Keith who was clearly trying to make himself invisible over on his bed. "Oh god..." He suddenly realised what could be happening. Looking down at Lance, he whispered. "If I let go of you, can I trust you to not do anything stupid while I try and help Keith?"

Lance took a breath before nodding.

"Thank you." He whispered back before releasing the kid.

"Commander Iverson, Sir."

"Yes, Winlow?"

Adam walked over to him.

"I think it would be beneficial for everyone if the Cadet is removed from the equation." He spoke quietly so only the Commander would be able to hear him. "I mean, look at Cadet Kogane, he's terrified out of his mind over there, and I know McClain, him and Keith spend half their time here at Shiro and I's apartment. Kid wouldn't hurt a fly. He certainly wouldn't just randomly attack whoever this Cadet is, not without a reason anyway, and I'm really worried that the reason has something to do with why Keith's shirt is ripped."

Iverson glanced to see the clues Adam had spotted on Cadet Kogane, he immediately sucked in a breath.

"Get Shiro in here, he always seems to be the only one who can get through to the kid."

"Will do, Sir."

"Holt too. He's his counsellor, right?"

Adam nodded.

"Right, I'll take this one somewhere else. I doubt he's going to talk so see what you can find out from Kogane and McClain."

"Yes, Sir."

Iverson hefted Ryan up and out of the room.

Adam quickly sent texts to Shiro and Commander Holt.

Lance was now sat on the floor of the dorm, back leaning on the wall between the bathroom and Keith's bed, breathing heavily in exertion and remnants of anger.

No more than a minute later, Sam Holt entered.

Adam was now crouched in front of Lance, making sure he was okay, having attempted to comfort Keith but getting no response.

Commander Holt looked to the kid on the bed and very slowly walked over.

"Shiro will be here soon."

Keith shook his head, refusing to make eye contact.

"I'm dirty." His voice was so small it was almost inaudible.

"I'm sure he won't mind a bit of vomit." Sam reassured.

"I'm dirty." Keith repeated.

Commander Holt paused, realising that the kid's words clearly weren't referring to his sickness.

"I'm sorry... I'm sorry..." He began to repeat over and over, pulling his knees closer and burying his head amongst them.

"He'll be here in a minute."

"I don't know why he likes me. Why would anyone like me? I'm dirty. I'm disgusting."

"You are none of those things."

Shiro sprinted in before Keith could say anything else. He rushed over to the kid and sat down next to him on the bed.

"Oh, kiddo." He took in the scene around him. "What happened?"

"I'm dirty." Keith's tone failed further with every repeat of the phrase.

"No you're not, you're my friend."

"I shouldn't be. You deserve better friends."

"I like having you as a friend though."

"Why?" Keith's bottom lip shook as he held back a sob.

"Because you're Keith, and you're amazing. You're my flying bud too."

"That's Adam."

"I think he prefers the term boyfriend." Shiro joked.

Adam's mouth turned up in a smile as he overheard.

Keith smiled ever so slightly too.

Shiro noticed the kid's binder was visible below his rode up t-shirt.

"Keith, what happened?" He asked every so softly, almost scared to hear the answer.

"Where's Lance?" Keith suddenly looked horrified, searching around the room.

"He's fine, he's down here." Adam's voice spoke up as he raised his hand.

"He can't hurt, Lance!" He begged.

"Woah, woah, woah." Shiro placed a hand gently on the kid's shoulder. "No one can hurt Lance. Can you see who's in the room?"

Keith looked around before nodding.

"Who's in the room? Name everyone for me."

"You, me, Sam, Adam, and Lance."

"Good." Shiro smiled.

Keith took a breath. "He shouldn't have done that. He's going to get in trouble because of me." Keith looked to Commander Holt. "Please don't let him get into trouble because of me. Please, just... if you need someone to go. If someone has to leave because of this... I'll go. Not him... please not Lance."

"Keith..." Shiro tried to stop the panicked mush of words. "We need to know what happened."

He shook his head, a sob escaping his lips.

Shiro reached forward and brought the kid closer, allowing him to rest his head against his shoulder as he cried.

Keith wrapped his arms around his friend, clinging tight.

"I'm fine... I'm fine..." He heard from close-by.

"Lance, you're bleeding." Adam's voice followed, softly.

Keith watched as Lance swept a hand across his mouth and nose with the sleeve of his hoodie to wipe it away.

"There, not bleeding."

There were footsteps at the door.

"Commander Holt, Shirogane, Winlow." Iverson spoke up.

Shiro pulled away, turning to the Commander.

"I need to speak with you all about what happened here. Let the Cadets rest."

"Is that advisable?" Adam asked, furrowing an eyebrow.

"There is nothing we can do tonight. It's best to sleep on it."

Commander Holt nodded. "Very well." He turned to Keith. "We'll have our therapy session as usual tomorrow. If you need to schedule an extra chat tonight then you know how to contact me. Don't think that any time is too late, okay? I'm here for you, Keith, and you're not alone." He offered a smile to him before leaving the room.

Adam gently took hold of his boyfriend's hand. "Come on, babe." He said softly.

"Are you going to be okay?" Shiro asked.

"I have Lance, I won't be alone, don't worry." Keith nodded, making sure to try and reassure his friend.

"Text me if you need anything, okay?"

"Thanks, Shiro."

"Look after him." Adam instructed Lance.

"Of course I will." Lance agreed.

"Get some sleep, kiddo." Adam gave Keith a pat on the shoulder before leaving with Shiro in tow.

Keith took the deepest breath Lance had ever heard, scrubbing a shaky hand down his face, closing his eyes.

"Keith..." Lance spoke, softly, crouching down in front of his roommate. "Come back to me, Mójol."

He opened his eyes and smiled softly.

"Do you want to change?"

Keith nodded.

Lance grabbed Keith's pyjamas and placed them on the bed beside him.

"Okay?"

"Yeah."

Lance took hold of the hem of his friend's shirt and gently lifted it over his head. He then walked over to the drawers and found the sports bra before handing it to Keith.

Keith wordlessly took off the binder before swapping into the bra. He then grabbed the pyjama shirt and pulled it on, following with the bottoms.

"I'm gonna' brush my teeth, my breath isn't great."

Lance nodded, waiting until Keith was in the bathroom before grabbing the trash can and placing it outside the dorm before walking back inside and locking the door. He sat down on the edge of Keith's bed as he waited, gently prodding at the dark bruising that was the beginnings of a black eye, wincing slightly.

"I'm sorry..."

He turned to the doorway of the bathroom where Keith just looked broken.

"You did nothing wrong. I don't know who that kid was, but he..." Lance bit his tongue, refusing to get angry again.

"Lance, you got hurt. That can't happen, not because of me."

"Yeah, but he came out worse, and that's all that matters."

Keith sighed.

"Lance..."

"Yeah?"

Keith took a seat next to him on the bed and slowly reached out a shaky hand, taking his friend's in his.

Lance let their fingers intertwine with a smile.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Could you kiss me?" Keith's tone was small but loving.

Lance smiled with a light blush.

"You don't have to obviously, I just..." He began to ramble.

Lance carded a hand through Keith's hair as he leant close, their lips softly meeting, answering the question.

"You're so beautiful."

It was Keith's turn to blush.

"I've been wanting to ask you this since the moment I met you, but I never had the balls to go through with it. Keith do you wanna..."

"Yes." Keith smiled.

Lance smirked. "I didn't even ask yet."

"I don't care." He leant close, resting his head on his roommate's chest. "Answer's yes."

"I now know the real reason you went to brush your teeth." Lance teased.

Keith giggled, which was the most beautiful thing he'd ever heard.

"Whatever happened today, it's never going to happen again. Ever. Okay?"

Keith wrapped his arms tight around Lance.

"Thank you."

"I'm gonna' look after you." He took a deep breath. "Let's get some sleep."

"Could you?" Keith began but paused.

"What?"

"I don't want to be alone tonight. I get..." He clearly thought something over internally before continuing. "I get nightmares and, and I just know they're going to be bad tonight."

"Of course."

Lance hated letting go of Keith but had to as he quickly threw on pyjamas before returning to Keith's bed, guiding his now boyfriend to lie down before wrapping his arms around him protectively. "I'm here if you need me."

"Thank you." Keith smiled, softly. "You have no idea how much I appreciate that."

"Things are gonna' get better."

He turned the light down so that it only just illuminated the room.

Keith almost teared up at the gesture before snuggling closer to Lance.

"I hope so."


	19. Chapter 19

Still holding his boyfriend's hand, Adam leant close and began to whisper as they followed Iverson and Holt down the hallway.

"Listen, we can't say anything in this meeting."

Shiro furrowed an eyebrow.

"Wait, what? Why?"

"Because we can't out Keith, and I'm pretty sure his identity has something to do with all this."

"What makes you say that?"

"The creepy kid Lance attacked kept calling Keith, 'Molly'."

"Wait, so he must have known Keith somewhere down the line."

Adam nodded. "Not sure when though."

"Did he say anything else?"

"'I was just reminding Molly of some good times we used to have'."

"Maybe a crazy ex?"

"The kid was terrified."

"Not everyone treats their partner's well." Shiro stated, sadly.

"Abusive ex?" Adam considered. "I mean, Keith just looked broken, babe, you have no idea. He threw up in the midst of whatever happened before I got there too."

"That's a very extreme response."

"What did he keep repeating to you and Sam?"

"That he was dirty."

It was Adam's turn to feel sick. "Oh god. You don't think. No, it can't be that."

"What if it is?"

Adam put a hand over his mouth as he bit back a sob, eyes screwing closed as he tried not to cry.

Shiro pulled him close, holding him softly.

"We don't know for sure, okay? We could be wrong on this. Let's hope we're wrong on this."

He took a breath, gently removing his boyfriend's glasses to prevent them from getting broken.

"No matter what we find out, we'll take care of him. We'll look after him. So will Sam, Lance, Pidge, Matt, Hunk. He has people who care about him now. People who are gonna' be there for him."

"People who love him." Adam answered, tearfully.

"Exactly." Shiro smiled, leaning down and kissing his boyfriend softly on the lips.

* * *

**THE NEXT DAY**

The alarm beeped in the small dorm room awakening Lance.

"Alarm off."

The beeping stopped.

Looking down at the bundle in his arms, he smiled.

Keith was still sleeping peacefully, his hair having turned into bird's nest through the night.

Lance smirked, stroking a hand through it.

"Hey, dormilón." He spoke, softly.

"Mmm..." Keith groaned. "I don't understand Spanish." He mumbled in response.

"It means sleepyhead."

"I'm not a sleepyhead."

Lance smirked at the response. "That's exactly what a dormilón would say."

Keith smiled against his chest, pulling the covers closer to himself.

"You're adorable." Lance commented.

"Thank you."

He laughed at how half-asleep Keith clearly was.

"And very modest."

"Mmhm."

"Hey, don't go back to sleep, we have class."

"Ugh, fuck class."

"It's physics."

"Exactly. Fuck class. I have a session with Commander Holt just after that anyway, so I'll just go to that."

The control panel on the wall by the door rang out scaring both of them.

"¡Mierda!"

They burst out laughing.

"Accept."

"1 new message for Cadet Kogane and Cadet McClain." The robotic voice began. "There will be a hearing with Commander Iverson, Commander Holt, Cadet Parker, and parents/guardians at 13:00 hours. Attendance is mandatory."

"Oh my god, they told my parents!" Lance exclaimed.

"You'll be fine." Keith replied, eyes still closed in his blissful state of calmness, curled up against his boyfriend. "Because I'm taking the wrap for this, not you."

"What?"

"You were acting in defense of me, so therefore, I'm going to get everything cleared for you, because there's no way I'm letting them punish you for doing something as heroic as what you did."

"It wasn't heroic..."

"Lance, don't put yourself down. You did something that a lot of people wouldn't do, you stepped in when I was in trouble." Keith explained. "And outside of Shiro, I've never had anyone willing to fight for me before."

Lance smiled. "I would fight anyone for you." He leant down and kissed his boyfriend on the cheek. "If you're really not up for class, I'm sure the Garrison would be fine with it, considering everything that's happened."

Keith pulled the covers up further, giving Lance his answer.

He smirked, huddling closer and closing his eyes, falling peacefully back to sleep once again, Keith in his arms.

* * *

**LATER THAT DAY**

There was a timid knock at the door before Keith walked inside, Shiro was alongside him.

“Hi, Sam... I was wondering if Shiro could be in here with me, I just, I don’t know...”

“That’s fine.” Sam smiled.

They took their seats.

“So, we have quite a lot to discuss, huh?”

Keith nodded.

“Let’s start with the basic details. Ryan Parker, how do you know him?”

“He was the son of one of my foster placements.” Keith glanced behind Sam and noticed his folder with a sigh. “But I think you already knew that.”

Sam followed his gaze to the folder. “Oh.” He picked it up and placed it down on the desk in front of Keith. “Have you ever had the chance to read your file before?”

He shook his head.

“Well I collated it all into a large text for you.” Sam handed him a bound folder of A4 pages with a plastic cover.

Shiro’s curiosity got the better of him.

Keith saw him looking.

“You can read it if you want, everyone else has. I don’t mind.” He slid the actual file closer to his friend.

“You sure?”

Keith nodded as he began to read.

.

‘ _ **Name:** Molly Kogane // Keith Jacobs_

_**Birthdate:** 10.23.2030_

_**Parents:** Jonathon Kogane (deceased) and Unknown Mother_

_**Place of Birth:** Texas_

_**Current State of Residence:** Arizona_

_**Behavioural Issues:** Aggressive, uncooperative, caught sneaking out repeatedly, gets into fights at school and at the group home, kicked out of school for giving another student a concussion, selfish, criminal, served numerous stints in detention centres, attacked foster parents, attacked child of foster parents, never listens, has ran away several times, charged for possession of a weapon, nightmare student’_

**_Foster Placements:_ **

_Jacobs // 2 Years // 8-10_

_Longhart // 7 Months // 10_

_Romano // 3 Months // 10_

_Peterson // 1 Week // 10_

_Kirrin // 8 Months // 11_

_Graves // 6 Months // 12_

_Parker // 8 Months // 12_

_Alexander // 9 Months // 13_

_Raleigh // 3 Years 7 Months // 13-16_

_Long Desert Group Home // 16_

_Galaxy Garrison // Current_ ’

.

“Why are we reading this?!” Keith asked, dumping the sheets of paper on the desk. “It’s stupid.”

“Tell me what don’t you like about it.”

“The fact that they’ve made so much of that up. I hate how they describe me...”

“That’s what we’re going to do in this meeting, we’re going to set the record straight on a few things, okay?”

Keith nodded.

“So, the Parker placement.” Sam skipped to the corresponding section.

Keith began to read.

‘Molly was left in the care of Ty and Winifred Parker. Although Molly doesn’t say much about the events which took place during this placement, doctors stated for her to have numerous fractures and incorrectly healed broken bones, and a vast array of bruises of different ages. Molly hasn’t said a word since the night I went to go and get her out of there. She is also dangerously underweight and spent a few days on an NG-tube. Further inspection of the house found a bag of zip ties in the bathroom.’

Keith felt sick, glancing to Shiro, he didn’t look much better.

“They were arrested and charged. The Parkers are currently serving jail time.”

“Good riddance.” Shiro muttered angrily under his breath.

“So what about Ryan?”

“I never told anyone about him.”

“Why?”

“Keith, what did he do to you?” Shiro asked.

“He...” Tears began to trickle down Keith’s cheeks as he shook. “At first, he just used to touch me, but then it got worse and he...”

“Keith, did he rape you?” Shiro’s tone was soft yet strong.

Keith dissolved into a mess of sobs as he nodded, throwing himself at his friend and burying against his chest.

“I was there for eight months, and no one came to help me... I tried to tell Mrs. Rands, and she tried, so really did, but they knew what they were doing. They knew what she could do and what she couldn't, so I was just trapped, and I was so scared.”

“Shh, shh, shh...” Shiro cood, wrapping his arms around him. “You’re out of there now, and you’re safe. He’s not going to get away with anything like that ever again, do you understand me?”

Keith nodded.

“What happened yesterday, Keith?”

“He called out for me with the name I don’t use anymore and then he just tormented me about when I used to be fostered by his parents, bringing everything back up again. Then he punched me and dragged me into the dorm. He kept touching me under my binder, and then he kissed me. Lance walked in while this was all happening and I asked him to help me. Then he just exploded and started punching Ryan. And then Iverson showed up.”

Sam shook his head. “Well he certainly isn’t going to go unpunished now. That meeting Iverson called, I’ll see to it that he knows exactly what needs to be done. Keith, do I have your permission to relay this information to the Commander.”

Keith’s lip shook but he nodded regardless.

Shiro held the kid tight. "We're here for you, okay? You have so many people here who love you and care about you. You're not alone. You'll never be alone again, I promise."


	20. Chapter 20

**LATER THAT DAY**

Commander Iverson was sat across from them all at the other side of the meeting room's table. Sam was next to him, taking notes.

On the other side, Lance was sat in between his parents, Ryan had two people who Keith guessed to be the relatives he'd mentioned, and he... well, he didn't even have Mrs. Rands to represent him this time.

He knew as soon as that message had played through this morning in the dorm room that he was screwed. He was on his own, and he just knew that this was going to be a trainwreck for him.

Hurried footsteps could be heard before the chairs next to him were pulled out.

"Sorry, sorry, our class went on a little longer than we'd imagined."

"Not a problem, you're just in time, Officers." Iverson nodded.

Keith turned to see Shiro and Adam, and nearly cried.

"Hey, kiddo." Adam smiled at him.

Shiro placed a hand on his shoulder and gave it a squeeze in reassurance.

"Thank you." He whispered to both of them.

"Okay so now that everyone's here, I'm Commander Iverson and I'm in charge of the Cadets here at the Garrison. This is Commander Holt, he is in charge of student wellbeing. We called this hearing to discuss the events which took place at around 19:00 hours yesterday involving Cadets Kogane, McClain, and Parker.”

Commander Holt leant forward, clearing his throat before he began.

"Now Keith and I talked about these events in our session this morning, and he told us about his time at the Parker residence when they were his foster placement. I won't go into anymore detail on that, because I am aware that you more than likely know the finer details of what happened there. We do, however, have to discuss the additionally unreported events which also took place during that time which have come to light since the events yesterday."

“Absolutely.” Iverson took a letter out of the folder in front of him and slid it across the table. "Ryan Parker, it is with authorisation from Admiral Sanda that I hereby terminate your status as a Garrison Cadet. You will have one hour to clear your quarters which will be supervised by our security before you will be escorted from the grounds. Any future attempts to access Garrison property will be treated as trespassing on military grounds, and you will be charged accordingly. I under the authority of Admiral Sanda, strip you of your rank. Please hand over your Garrison ID."

Ryan looked speechless as he reached into his pocket and took out the ID card, placing it down on the table.

Commander Holt took the card, snapping it in half and dropping the pieces down onto the table before speaking up once again.

"Now, Keith has chosen not to press charges, only because he does not wish to put himself through the discomfort of the court system once again. Don't see that as you getting away with this, because it is anything but. I have friends in A LOT of places, Parker. I know you wanted a career in astro-psychics, maybe even engineering, I would like to wish you the best of luck in that. Let's just say that you might discover every organisation focusing on those fields now know exactly what type of person you are, and why they shouldn't ever hire you." Commander Holt stated.

Adam and Shiro could barely keep themselves from smiling at what Sam had done.

"You come after my family again, Mister Parker and you will find out just how much worse we can make this for you..." He leant across the table. "You got that?"

Ryan nodded quickly.

"Oh, Mr. and Mrs. Traers." Sam took out a piece of paper and handed it to them. "Here's the unfiled police report. You'll find everything you need to know about your criminal ward right here."

The security guards walked into the meeting room.

"Please escort Mister Parker to his dorm. He has one hour." Iverson ordered.

"Yes, Sir."

Ryan and his guardians were removed.

Lance's eyes were wide, not knowing how on earth to react to what had just happened.

"Apologies about that." Iverson offered a smile to the McClain family. "Anyway, we still need to talk about what happened yesterday."

Sam took a deep breath to calm himself down before taking a seat.

"What did he do?" Lance's Mom asked, seemingly unfazed.

"Well he attacked another student, and addressed a Commander in a disrespectful manner." Iverson stated.

Lance's Mom turned to her son with an expression of 'goddammit Lance'.

"What?! He was hurting Keith!"

"It's not his fault..." Keith's small voice spoke up for the first time. "Ryan was... well it doesn't matter what he was doing. Lance walked in and saw what was happening and instead of just ignoring it and walking away, he got Ryan away from me. What he did was really brave, and yeah, it might have been stupid, and he shouldn't have punched him, but he was protecting me." He explained, fiddling with his fingers. "Do you know the plaque in the main lobby of the Garrison entrance?"

Iverson and Holt nodded.

"I noticed it the very first time Shiro brought me here and showed me around. It's a quote about what makes a good Cadet, and I don't really agree with it."

"Really."

Keith nodded. "The quote is 'With hard work and determination, any Cadet can be a Garrison great'. Surely being a Cadet isn't just about getting good grades. I mean, yeah, you're always going to have Pidge and Matt types who are basically just human computers..."

Sam chuckled at that.

"But this place is way more than that. If it wasn't, I certainly wouldn't be here. I mean, let's be honest, if I hadn't have shown 'promise' in the simulator, would you ever have considered some aggressive, foster kid with a mile of issues? I don't think so. To say that the Garrison is only about becoming 'great' sells this place short, because your greats aren't the ones who leave with the good grades. I mean, Shiro's your poster boy, and I've seen his report cards from across the years."

Shiro smirked.

"There's a reason people look up to him, and it's not because of academic success. I mean, the very first time I met Lance he saw the picture of me and Shiro and nearly passed out from shock that I even knew him, nevermind was friends with him. That's a great. It's someone who goes further than what's expected of them, not because they have to, but because they want to. Like signing up for an unpaid Garrison schools recruitment programme, or making it their mission to be there for a kid who really needed someone to give a shit about them."

The room was silent as Keith spoke.

"What I'm trying to say is... Lance is exactly the kind of person you want in your ranks because he has something that not many people have. He saw danger and instead of getting himself to safety, he ran straight towards it, regardless of the consequences. His loyalty to the people he cares about is what makes him a great. The world needs more people like Lance... and Shiro, Pidge, Adam, Matt, and even Hunk, because they're going to make a difference, just you wait, because the people who society are so quick to write off are sometimes the ones who will have the biggest impact. They will do incredible things for this stupid planet, so... if you need someone to go... I will."

"Keith..." Shiro sighed.

"I'm nothing special, not like these guys, and I refuse to let Lance take the fall for protecting my stupid ass. I won't let you."

"We're not expelling either of you." Iverson stated.

"Lance is..." Keith paused before looking confused. "Wait, what?"

"You're right, the Garrison needs more people like Cadet McClain... but we also need people like yourself too, Kogane."

Keith looked lost for words.

"You have a fire in you that roars for those you care about. And yes, when Shiro first came to me about potentially recruiting you, I did have my doubts, and I did write you off too quickly. You're proving yourself to be a fine young man, and I am happy to see that you have been making friends with not just your fellow Cadets, but also our Officers, and even Commanders. So no, neither of you are going anywhere."

"Thank you, Sir." Keith answered.

"Thank you, Sir." Lance followed.

Iverson reached across the table to offer a handshake to both Mr. and Mrs. McClain.

"You've raised a fine young man." He smiled. "Not that I’m surprised by that. I mean, we’ve already seen an extensive line-up of McClain’s come through here over the years. Lance was bound to join them.”

Mrs. McClain smiled.

"You're free to go." Iverson motioned towards the door. "I hope you will however stay with us for Family Day tomorrow."

"Of course we will." Mr. McClain nodded, as they stood up, wrapping his arm around Lance's shoulders. They left the meeting room.

Iverson turned to Shiro and Adam.

"Sam has been telling me about how you have been looking after Keith. He even went as far as referring to you as his Garrison placement parents."

They smirked.

"Well, someone had to." Shiro smiled, messing up Keith's hair.

Keith scowled with a smirk, batting his hand away and flattening it back down.

"He's doing you proud."

"We know." Adam smiled.

"I'm really thankful for them." Keith spoke up. "I don't know where I would be without them, or Pidge."

It was Iverson and Holt's turn to smile.

"That is all, you're dismissed."

"Thank you, Sir." The three of them replied before leaving the room.

As the door slid closed, Shiro noticed that Keith was shaking.

"You okay?"

Keith didn't respond for a few seconds before he threw himself against both him and Adam.

Adam stroked a hand through his hair.

"What brought this on, kiddo?"

Tears were trickling down Keith's cheeks.

Shiro noticed them in concern.

"Keith..."

"Sorry." Keith shook his head with a sniffle, wiping them away. "I just... like I said, I don't know where I would be without you guys..." He looked down. "I don't want to know." His eyes tracked up to the two of them. "And I don't know how to thank you for that."

"Hey..." Shiro wrapped his arms around the kid, squeezing him tight. "I've told you before, you don't ever have to thank us for anything. We care about you, and you do anything for family."

"I'm not family though, not really."

"That doesn't matter." Adam stated. "Shiro's parents couldn't give a shit about him, they just brought him over from Japan and fucking left his ass. And my 'parents' decided a long time ago that they didn't have a son when I told them I was dating Takashi." He took a breath, placing a hand on the kid's shoulder. "What I'm trying to say is that the best families are the ones you make yourself, and you're definitely a part of our family. We were screwed the second you used those puppy dog eyes of yours on Shiro back at your school."

Keith laughed. "I didn't use puppy dog eyes."

"Suuuuure you didn't." Adam teased.

Shiro smiled. "We're here for you, and we always will be."

"You can't get rid of us that easily." Adam grinned, pulling Keith from Shiro's hug into a headlock and beginning to walk off down the corridor with him.

Keith laughed, fighting his hold.

Shiro shook his head with a smirk, following after them.


	21. Chapter 21

As Shiro walked into the living room of their apartment, he was met with a grinning Adam holding his tablet.

"What's up?"

"Look."

Shiro read the screen.

' _Request: 1 day leave of duty - GRANTED (Commander Iverson)'_

He beamed.

* * *

"Oh my god, I can't wait to see my parents. Like I know they were here for a little bit yesterday, but like I didn't really get the chance to talk to them because of the meeting and all but..."

"Woah..." Keith took hold of his boyfriend's hands. "Breathe."

"Sorry."

"Nothing to apologise for." He smiled, swinging their hands gently side to side. "Have you been taking your meds, babe?"

Lance nodded. "Yes, mamá..." He teased.

Keith rolled his eyes with a smirk. "It's you that's gonna' be bouncing off the walls if you don't, you ADHD, bitch."

Lance burst out laughing before pecking his boyfriend on the cheek.

"I love you."

"I love you too." Keith smiled.

"So, what's your plan for the day?"

He shrugged.

"You hanging with Adam and Shiro?"

"They probably have duties."

"Maybe they won't. Maybe they'll get the day off to spend it with you."

"Lance, you don't have to worry about me, okay? Go have fun with your family, I'm fine."

"I don't want to leave you on your own."

"And I appreciate the concern, I really do, because you're the sweetest, but if you don't leave this dorm I will personally throw you out of it and lock the door." Keith threatened with a grin.

Lance smirked.

"Fine, I'm going, I'm going."

"See you later, yeah?"

Keith nodded. "Of course."

Lance opened the door to the room.

"Hey." Keith called. "You forgot something."

"What-..." As Lance turned back around, Keith cut him off, pressing his lips to his boyfriend's.

"There."

Lance smiled, offering a wave before the door closed after him.

Keith let out a sigh and took a seat on his bed.

There was a knock at the door before it opened.

"Hah!" Lance exclaimed as he stood in front of Adam and Shiro. "Told you they'd be here."

"Go and see your parents!" Keith shouted.

"Fine..." Lance rolled his eyes, walking off.

Keith looked to the couple at the door.

"What are you doing here?"

"Well..." Adam began. "Everyone we know in the Garrison now calls us parents so I guess you could say that we're taking our son out for Family Day."

"You actually took the day off?"

Shiro nodded. "Of course we did. You really think we would've just left you here on your own? That's just bad parenting."

Keith smirked. "You two are relentless."

"So we've been told." Adam smiled. "Now, are you hungry? I could murder for a burger and fries."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a short chapter, but more is coming soon ;)


	22. Chapter 22

As they walked towards Shiro's car, Keith smirked.

"Sure you don't want me to drive?" He teased.

"Considering last time you flat-spotted all four tyres wheel spinning it out the parking lot, no way in hell. Especially considering it's the Garrison's, not mine."

Keith's eyes widened with a smirk. "Wait! So when I stole it that time, I wasn't stealing your car, I was stealing military property?!"

Shiro nodded.

"Holy shit."

"How did you know how to drive it anyway?" Adam asked.

"Illegal street racing." Shiro answered for him. "While also underage, with a fake license."

"Oh yeah, because the main priority of illegal street racing is making sure everyone's legal to drive." Keith scoffed.

They climbed into the car.

"So, burgers then milkshakes after?" Adam suggested.

"I'm lactose intolerant." Keith answered. "But there's nothing stopping you guys getting them."

"Lactose intolerant. Since when?"

Keith shot him an expression of 'really?'. "Since my bar mitzvah, when do you think?" He answered, sarcastically.

"Okay, that was a dumb question."

Shiro smirked.

"Wait, I've been putting milk in your coffee." Adam stated.

"I knew I was getting stomach cramps too often." Keith looked as if a huge mystery had been solved.

"You should've mentioned it."

"Sorry, but in my defense, I didn't know, until just now, that you've been slowly trying to murder me with dairy products."

"Well, it would technically be manslaughter but I get what you're saying." Adam smirked. "I'm sorry, kiddo, we'll find something to use instead."

"What do you mean?" Keith furrowed an eyebrow.

"You know, like lactose free stuff?"

"That's a thing!" The kid looked astonished.

"Yeah, Keith, of course it is. Has no one ever bought you anything like that before?"

Keith shook his head.

Adam looked angry. "Change of plan, we're making a stop."

"What about burgers?"

"For one day only, dessert first."

Keith furrowed an eyebrow.

"But..."

Adam turned in the seat to look at the kid.

"Do you trust me?"

"Of course I do."

"Good." He smiled.

* * *

Shiro pulled up outside the ice cream parlour.

Keith looked at the sign.

"I haven't had ice cream in like... forever."

"That is a crime." Adam commented as they walked inside and over to the counter.

Keith buried his hands in his pockets as he looked at the wealth of ice-cream in front of him.

Shiro leant close to his boyfriend and began to whisper so the kid wouldn't be able to hear.

"Hey, don't overwhelm him, okay? The kid doesn't do so good in busy places like this, and he'll be worried that he's going to get sick somehow."

"I know what I'm doing." Adam replied.

"Not saying you don't, just... take it slow."

Shiro walked over to Keith and wrapped his arm around his shoulders.

Adam approached the server.

"Hi, do you have an allergy friendly menu?"

"Of course." The woman handed over a clipboard.

"There you go, kiddo. Go wild." Adam smiled, giving the menu to Keith.

Keith furrowed an eyebrow, clearly thinking this too good to be true.

"Wait, so which ones can I have?"

Shiro looked down at the menu and pointed out the lactose free section.

Keith's eyes widened.

"All of those?"

"Yup." Adam smiled.

"You want me to read them for you, bud?" Shiro asked, quietly.

Keith nodded.

"Vanilla, strawberry, chocolate, raspberry ripple, rocky road, bubblegum, pistachio, honeycomb, rum and raisin, and birthday cake."

"Which ones are good?"

"All of them." Adam answered with a cheeky grin.

Shiro rolled his eyes. "I get the rocky road, sweet tooth over there gets bubblegum, but for someone who literally hasn't had ice cream their entire life, you should try out the main three."

"You can do that?" Keith looked amazed.

"Of course you can." Shiro smiled, looking to the server. "Hi, could we have a mix tub of the lactose free vanilla, strawberry, and chocolate please."

"Sure."

The woman prepared the tub, placing a scoop of each flavour in it before handing it to Shiro.

"Here you go, kiddo." He gave it to Keith who handled it as if the contents was made of precious gems, eyes still unbelieving of what was happening in front of him.

"Anything else?"

"Yeah, one standard bubblegum, and another standard rocky road please." Shiro ordered before turning to Keith. "You can go and find a table with Adam, I'll bring the rest over."

Keith looked anxious to do that, considering there were so many other people in the store.

Adam noticed this and placed a hand on the kid's shoulder.

"Come on, kiddo."

They walked towards an empty table and took a seat.

"You forgot something." Adam smiled.

"What?"

He pulled out a small colourful plastic spoon and handed it to Keith.

"Whoops." The kid smirked.

Shiro made his way over a few seconds later, sliding Adam his tub before sitting down beside him. He noticed that Keith hadn't made a move to eat any of his ice cream. "You don't have to wait for us, get stuck in before it melts." He smiled, encouragingly.

Keith used the spoon to scoop up some of the vanilla before slowly popping it into his mouth.

"What do you think?" Adam asked.

The kid grinned.

"It tastes so good!"

Adam smiled. "Glad to hear it, kiddo."

* * *

Later on, when the ice cream had ran dry, Keith was reclined in the seat of the booth looking incredibly content.

"I can't believe no one ever told you that lactose free shit existed. That stuff has been around for decades." Adam stated.

"I'd be lucky if they even fed me sometimes, I doubt they would have gone out of their way to buy me whatever this special milk, non-milk stuff is." Keith stated before noticing their attempts at hiding their horror. "Sorry... I don't know why I said that." He paused, taking a deep breath. "I'm surprised my Dad never did."

Shiro knew how rare it was for Keith to mention his Father.

"Maybe he didn't know it existed either, otherwise I'm sure he would've."

"He was a desert-boy, big cities weren't really his thing. Neither was grocery shopping so, you know, we went without some stuff."

Shiro found that last comment odd. From what he did know about the kid's Dad, it had only being glowing compliments and descriptions, the thought occurred to him that maybe Keith had been on his social worker's radar before his Father had even passed away.

"He was a fireman, right?" He asked.

Keith nodded.

"Yep, he was a real hero."

"Where did he serve?"

"Some middle of bum-fuck nowhere town." The kid explained. "There wasn't any other kids there. All the residents were like fifty-plus, which wasn't so fun when I was younger."

Something occurred to Shiro.

"If there were no kids, then where did you go to school?"

"Um, I didn't, not until I was like six, anyway, when he started sending me to the next town over. He kept promising that he was going to find us somewhere nice out in the countryside. Grass fields and flowers instead of sand, sand, and more sand, you know?"

Shiro nodded, horrified by the revelation but refusing to show it.

"I know I should've been, but I don't want to look back at those years and be mad at him because I loved him."

"Sometimes when we lose someone like that, it's hard to remember everything they've done wrong. It's okay to say that they weren't perfect, because no one is." Adam spoke up.

"He was doing the best he could." Keith stated, defensively.

"Of course he was." Shiro shut down the impending argument before it could begin.

The kid was fiddling with the plastic spoon.

"The house was the thing that killed him." He began. "Someone set the place on fire, yeah, but he died because it wasn't up to building standards, or something like that. The supports just gave out, and he only just managed to get me out before he was... you know." Keith threw the spoon into the empty tub. "If only I'd..."

"Don't." Shiro cut him off, sternly. "You were a seven-year-old boy in the middle of a house fire. There was nothing you could have done more."

"I..."

"No, you couldn't. Your Dad saved you for a reason, and it was because he loved you, and that's what parents do, they look after their kids, no matter the consequences."

Keith scoffed. "That's a nice dream, but it's not very realistic, is it?" He motioned at himself. "Point and case."

"You told me you had some nice placements."

"Yeah, before they threw me back into the foster home because I didn't fit in with their perfect life plan anymore."

"You're officially Keith because of one of them." Shiro smiled, taking a drink.

Keith's expression brightened a little. "Okay, fine, the Alexander's were nice." He leant across the table wearing a mischievous grin. "So... when you two get married, which surname will I get?"

Shiro nearly choked at the question.

The kid burst out laughing.

Adam smirked before smiling. "Shirogane."

His boyfriend turned to him. "Really? Not Winlow?"

"Nahh, yours is nicer." Adam sipped from his lemonade. "Now you just have to buy me a..." His eyes widened as he turned to see that Shiro had slipped from sitting on the bench of the booth to kneeling beside the table.

Keith gasped.

"You sneaky bitch." Adam smirked.

Shiro chuckled. "Did you really think I hadn't got round to buying one yet?"

"I don't hear the actual question you should be asking me." He teased.

Shiro smiled. "Adam. You bring me so much joy every single day, and there aren't enough words in this stupid language to articulate just how much I have adored spending the last seven years alongside you, and I treasure every single one of the memories we made across those years with everything I have. You might know by now that I'm terrible at writing stuff like this, so I'm sorry if it sounds really really gay but the important thing I need to say is, Adam Winlow, would you do me the honour of being my husband?"

A tear trickled down Adam's cheek as he nodded. "Yes, you silly bastard, of course I will. Now get up off the floor, that won't be any good for your muscles." He wiped the tears away and wrapped his arms around his boyfriend and promptly kissed him.

Keith was beaming at the other side of the table, and the rest of the ice cream parlour were cheering and awwing.

Well, all but the table behind them.

"Fucking fags."

Keith heard the man mutter under his breath. He took a breath, using the distraction of his friends kissing to turn to the guy and jam his fingers in the fuckwit's neck.

"Say another fucking word and I won't be responsible for my actions, got it, you disgusting sack of shit." He threatened.

The coward nodded quickly, eyes downcasting to the bowl of ice cream in front of him.

"That's what I thought."

Keith turned back around and smiled at the way Shiro was looking at Adam with eyes that shone pure adoration.

"Who were you talking to?"

"What, him?" He motioned to the guy behind. "Oh he was just saying what a nice ring that is."

Adam smiled. "The ice cream store?"

"Our first date." Shiro took hold of his boyfriend's hand and gave it a squeeze. "As soon as you suggested going, I knew I wanted to propose here."

"That's sweet." Keith commented. "Hey, I'm really happy for you guys, you two are perfect for each other."

"Uhh, don't say that. Shiro will burst into some soulmate bullshit." Adam teased.

Shiro rolled his eyes.

"You still hungry?" He asked.

"I had ice cream." Keith answered.

"I know you did, but that's not what I asked. Could you eat more?"

"Yeah."

"Good." Shiro smiled. "Then let's go and get those burgers and fries."

They stood up from the booth and walked out of the ice cream store.

Shiro pulled Adam close under one arm and wrapped the other around Keith.

"My boys." He smiled.

And with those simple words, Keith found himself nearly reduced to tears.

"I love you guys." Slipped out before he realised what he'd said.

The couple stopped, their expressions turning emotional too before he was engulfed in a group hug.

"Uhh, I didn't sign up for this shit." Keith grumbled with a smirk.

"Tough, it's what this family does." Adam shot back, ruffling the kid's hair.

"Shiro, I've changed my mind." He teased.

"Sorry, no take backs. Like I said, you're stuck with us." Shiro grinned, releasing Keith and opening the back door of the car for him.

Keith beamed, climbing in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Squeal with me please!


	23. Chapter 23

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith dines with the McClain's.

Keith already felt **_beyond_**  full from the amount of food he'd eaten with Adam and Shiro, but after being cornered in the hallway by Mrs. McClain, he knew she was never going to take no for an answer, especially seeing as she'd apparently brought homemade food with them all the way from Cuba.

So there they were all sat around one of the tables in the grounds of the Garrison. Sunglasses had been forcibly shoved his way by Shiro in a particularly mother hen moment after seeing how bright it was outside, so he was currently wearing those, hoping he didn't look stupid. He'd also decided to tie his hair up for the first time in what seemed like years after it had grown to the point where it was really starting to annoy him, falling down to almost his shoulders now. He needed a haircut, but didn't want to ask Shiro or Adam for the money, or the ride to get one, because they already did enough for him anyway without having to pay for this too. So tying it up it was.

Lance had took the seat next to him, and Veronica was opposite. Mrs. McClain was currently fussing around in Spanish getting the dishes ready and generally bickering with Mr. McClain over something he was apparently doing wrong. The McClain kids were smirking though so it was obviously comical.

"¿Tienes alguna alergia, cariño?"

Veronica's eyes turned to him.

He'd clearly missed something.

Lance nudged him.

Keith turned to Mrs. McClain who must have asked him a question.

"What? Sorry."

"She asked if you're allergic to anything." Lance filled him in.

"Um, just lactose, Mrs. McClain."

"Please, call me Calista. And this is my husband, Javiero."

Keith smiled.

Lance snook an empanada out of one of the boxes and sneakily began eating it.

Veronica looked up from her phone noticing this and kicked him under the table.

"Ow!" Lance exclaimed, shooting her a glare. "What was that for?!"

"Lance Eduardo Macerio McClain!" Mrs. McClain shouted, having now been alerted to her son's food theft. "Olvidaste todos tus modales en tres meses, ¿eh? Chico estúpido. ¿Has notado cómo Keith no ha comido antes de que todos estén listos para comer? Tal vez deberías aprender algo de él, o mejor aún, recuerda de dónde eres y te comportas correctamente en la mesa. Si veo que vuelves a hacer eso, me aseguraré de decir esto en inglés, ¿entiendes?"

Veronica smirked.

"Si mamá."

"Te tengo vigilado." She stared him out for a few seconds before returning to prepping the food.

Keith looked lost.

"It's called growing up Latino." Veronica whispered to him. "Our Mom's are... passionate." She smiled. "But you'll never know love like it."

Keith smiled too.

"Passionate being the interchangeable word there." Lance joked.

"That smells really good." Keith commented.

Lance leant closer. "Wanna' impress her?"

"Uh, sure..." He furrowed an eyebrow in slight confusion.

"Say... Su comida huele deliciosa, Sra. McClain."

"Su comida huele deliciosa, Sra. McClain." Keith repeated, quietly, trying not to murder it.

Veronica smirked. "Close enough."

"Mamá!" Lance called.

Mrs. McClain turned to them.

"Su comida huele deliciosa, Sra. McClain." Keith tried to recite once again.

"Oh, aren't you sweet." She beamed, turning to her husband. "I've found a child with manners and I want one."

Lance looked offended. "Hey!"

"You can't adopt him, Adam and Shiro have claim on him." Veronica stated, nudging Keith's hand with a playful smile. "Adam was telling me about their plans for Family Day."

"Has Adam told you anything else?"

She looked intrigued. "No?..."

"You might wanna' ask."

Veronica immediately sped onto her phone.

"There we go." Mrs. McClain smiled before taking a seat. "Veronica, phone down."

"Uh." She groaned, but did comply.

"!Buen Provecho!"

"That means you can eat." Lance explained.

Veronica's phone buzzed. She looked to the message displayed on her lock screen and squealed.

"Oh my god!"

"What's wrong?" Mrs. McClain asked.

"Nothing's wrong." Veronica beamed. "Shiro and Adam got engaged."

Lance turned to Keith with an expression of amazement. "Seriously?!"

Keith nodded. "It was very cute."

Lance took a dish off his Dad and plated up before passing it to Keith.

"What is this?" Keith whispered.

"Boliche. It's like pot roast but Cuban."

Satisfied, Keith plated up too before handing the dish to Veronica. He did the same with the next few dishes, Lance providing a commentary for each.

"Buñuelo, it's basically a fried dough ball, they're amazing. Picadillo, which is like a hash, sorta. Empanada, which are just literal pastry heaven."

Keith smirked.

"And finally tostones. They're fried plantain, if you've ever had plantain before."

"I have eaten literally nothing exciting ever in my life."

Lance smirked.

"Well, it's like a banana, but it doesn't taste like a banana so it's nice fried. It's an acquired taste though so like, no worries if you don't like it, Veronica hates them."

"They're gross." Veronica commented before turning to Mrs. McClain. "No offence, mamá."

"None taken, ángel."

Lance handed him a bowl. "I'm pretty sure you know what rice is." He teased.

"Hilarious..." Keith rolled his eyes with a smirk.

"You'll have to take Adam and Shiro some leftovers back with you. And I have a cake, it's as if I knew there would be a celebration."

"You were celebrating seeing your beautiful, amazing son again, right?" Lance beamed with cheeks full of food.

"Por supuesto cariño." Mrs. McClain joked.

"They'd love that, thank you." Keith smiled.

"No problem."

"Keith..." Mr. McClain spoke up for the first time at the head of the table.

'Oh boy...' Keith began to worry.

"Yes, Sir?"

"You live with Adam and Shiro?"

"Well, I bunk with Lance, but yeah, I sorta' live with them too."

"That's a little odd."

Keith furrowed an eyebrow.

"Why is that odd?"

"Well, you know, two men taking care of a sixteen year old."

"Would you be asking this if it were a man and a woman?"

Lance's eyes widened as he looked down at his plate, quickly shoving more food into his mouth.

"Do your parents have anything to say about that? I noticed they couldn't spare the time to be at that hearing yesterday."

"I'm not sure, you'd have to ask them." Keith replied, sharply.

"I would love to have the chance, where can I find them?"

"Westside Cemetery." Keith answered, stabbing his fork into something he couldn't remember the name of, trying not to explode.

The table silenced.

"If you manage to get hold of my Mom though, I'll be real impressed 'cause she's done an amazing job of pretending I don't exist for the last sixteen years. Send her my way if you do, I have some things I'd like to say to her." He dropped his fork onto the plate and stood up. "You know where I'll be." He squeezed Lance's shoulder, trying to take a calming breath. "Thanks for the food, Mrs. McClain." And with that, he walked off.


	24. Chapter 24

"Keith, you need to calm down, and once you do, you need to apologise to Mr. and Mrs. McClain." Shiro stated.

"Are you kidding?!" Keith scoffed.

"No I'm not kidding, you can't just storm off from important stuff like this, do you know how rude that was."

"Did you hear how rude he was being?"

"That doesn't matter, you have to just block that out and get on with it, especially considering it's your boyfriend's parents."

"I don't think he knows about us, I'm not sure if he even knows Lance is gay. All that shit he said was just aimed at you guys and I wasn't just going to sit there and let him talk about you both like that, not after everything you've done for me."

"Keith..." Adam began, taking a seat on the couch next to him. "As much as we appreciate the thought, you don't have to fight our battles for us, kiddo."

Keith released a breath.

"Why can't people just be accepting."

"Because people suck." Adam stated, taking a drink from his mug. "Plus..." He tapped Keith ever so slightly on the arm. "You talked us out of free food. And not just any food, fucking Latino food!"

Shiro smirked.

"Uhh, I want to go back to Uruguay, eat as much food as possible, and say fuck you to my parents."

"Latino boyfriends are abundant in the Garrison apparently." Shiro teased.

"Yeah, because we're beautiful, sun-kissed gods." Adam grinned, mischievously before turning back to the kid. "Seriously though, Keith, meals are a huge huge part of our culture, and for you to have just walked off without eating much, that's like actual sacrilege because it’s seen as disrespecting the host and her food."

Keith sighed. "I'm sorry, I just... it got to me. He was asking about my parents."

Shiro's eyes widened. "Wait, what?"

"Yeah, Mr. McClain wanted to know why they hadn't shown up yesterday for the hearing, that's why he mentioned you guys, he was asking if they were okay with me practically living with two gay men."

"Oh, boy..." Adam cringed.

"He asked where he could find them, so I told him straight."

"Which was?"

"Westside Cemetery." The kid's voice quietened as he fiddled with his fingers.

"Keith..." Shiro sighed, voice soft.

"I know. Trust me, I know..."

"That's not what I was going to say." He wrapped an arm around his shoulders, pulling him closer. "I was going to ask if you were alright?"

"I'm super... I've probably just gotten myself banned from ever seeing Lance again. Lance probably hates me anyway for being rude to his Mom and Dad. And to top it all of I feel like shit because I drenched up a bunch of abandonment issues."

"Well..." Adam began. "I've been texting Veronica since you got here and apparently Lance's Mom went ape shit on his Dad for being rude to you so I very much doubt that any of that is going to happen."

"Is Lance still with them?" Keith asked.

Adam typed into his phone before a message alert followed a few seconds later.

"Ehh, no, he's outside." He turned. "Door's open."

"Shit..." Keith got to his feet and walked over to the doorway..

The door swished open revealing Lance.

"Lance, I'm so sorry for being..."

"I told them I was bi." Lance's response cut him off.

Keith's eyes widened.

"And?"

"And they took it surprisingly well." He explained. "My Dad is clearly still not great on the whole thing, but it really shut him up when I found out I was gay too."

"I'm sorry if you felt forced to do that, I didn't want that." Keith apologised.

"You didn't force me to do anything, I had to tell them at some point, and I took the opportunity." He smiled. "By the way, they know we're dating now too."

"Oh god, and they took that how?"

"Well my Mom has joined the Keith defense squad apparently so she is now embarrassed for, in her own words, 'not making a nicer meal for meeting my boyfriend for the first time'."

"Shit, I need to apologise to your, Mom."

"Yeah, apologise, and get those leftovers she said she'd give us." Adam spoke up.

"Adam." Shiro scolded.

* * *

Keith's heart was hammering as his breathing become almost frantic in panic. He closed his eyes, trying to keep calm.

A hand nudged against his before fingers intertwined with his own.

He smiled, opening his eyes to look at Lance.

"It's okay, it's gonna' be fine."

"I hope so." Keith replied, exhaling with a nod. "Let's go."

They walked out of the Garrison building, back over to the table in the grounds, still hand-in-hand.

There was a woman who wasn't there earlier now, along with the brother Mrs. McClain had introduced as Luis on move-in day.

Marco and Rachel were up chasing around after a kid no older than two.

"Unca Lance!" The young voice called as he ran over.

Lance's face lit up at the sight before he knelt down, scooping up his nephew.

"Helloooo." He grinned, pressing a kiss to his cheek. "Look how big you're getting."

The child snuggled closer to Lance's chest.

"Are you tired, buddy?"

He nodded.

Lance adjusted his nephew to his left side, holding hands with Keith again with his right. They made their way over to the table.

Mrs. McClain approached him immediately. "My dear boy, I can only apologise."

Keith shook his head.

"It's fine, Calista. I'm the one who should be apologising. I shouldn't have lost my temper, and it was rude of me to just leave like that during the meal."

"You were upset, it's only natural. No harm done." She smiled before opening her arms.

Keith smiled back, allowing her to hug him.

Lance, having deposited his nephew with his sister-in-law, walked over to them.

"Oh, look at you two." She turned to the rest of the McClain's. "Mi pequeño niño está creciendo y encontrando amor."

"Mamá..." Lance groaned.

"¿Qué? Puedo avergonzarte en español, tu pequeño novio nunca lo sabrá." Mrs. McClain smirked.

"Sí, pero eso no es justo para Keith, se sentirá excluido."

"Well, you need to help your boyfriend learn Spanish then so he can make fun of you in two languages." Veronica called over.

Keith blushed.

Lance looked around. "Where's papá?"

"I sent him to get a cake."

He furrowed an eyebrow. "You brought a cake."

"Yes." She motioned to the medium sized cake in a plastic box on the table. "But that's now the 'Congratulations on your engagement, sorry my marido is an idiot' cake."

Keith smirked.

"Oh Adam said he'd happily take you up on those leftovers. I think he misses proper food." Lance stated.

"Shiro cooks Japanese dishes all the time, that boy eats fine." Mrs. McClain joked. "How long has it been now since he's been home?"

"Seven years." Veronica answered.

"Oh that poor thing."

"Honestly, mamá, he only wants to go back there for the food." Lance smirked.

"How do you know Adam so well?" Keith asked.

"I bunked with him in first year." Veronica smiled.

"I thought there was a single gender bunks rule?"

"He's gay, estúpido." She teased.

"Okay I know that meant stupid." Keith smirked.

Lance laughed. "I'm proud." He looked at the boxes and noticed the empanadas, taking one out. "Mmm."

"You really like those, don't you?" He teased.

Lance nodded.

"It's been too long."

"It's been a month and a half, Lance." Veronica mocked.

Lance made a face at her.

"¡Niños! Comportarse." Mrs. McClain lectured.

"Gracias a Dios mucha gente habla español aquí o no hubieras conseguido tu torta." Came the voice of Mr. McClain as he walked over, handing his wife the cake.

She cleared her throat expectantly.

Mr. McClain turned to Keith.

"I'm sorry for my prejudice earlier, it was unnecessary. I am truly happy about Adam and Shiro, and of course, yourself and Lance."

"Thank you, Sir."

"Javiero." He smiled.

* * *

 

**THE NEXT DAY**

Having offered his bed up to the McClain clan, he had instead stayed the night with Adam and Shiro.

Adam had already left to teach a class, his laptop sitting open on the island, Overwatch up and running on the screen. He'd clearly been in a rush.

Keith flipped the screen down before walking over to the fridge which was full to almost bursting with Mrs. McClain's leftovers. He went to grab the milk to make Shiro a coffee. It was then that his eyes tracked to something new. He smiled.

Lactose-Free Milk.

He took both cartons out, finishing making the coffee before grabbing a bowl and pouring some of the lactose-free stuff on his cereal, returning them both to the fridge once he was finished.

"I don't think I've ever not had cereal dry." He said, to no one in particular.

There was a loud thump from the hallway which led to the bedroom followed by a grunt.

"Shiro?" Keith called, walking over to find his friend on the floor panting. "Shiro!" He rushed beside him. "What's wrong?!"

"Nothing, it's fine." Shiro tried to reassure.

"It's obviously not fine or you wouldn't be on the floor. Are you hurt, or sick?" Keith fussed.

"I'm fine."

"Okay, then get up." He challenged, eyes worried, clearly knowing there was something he wasn't being told.

Shiro took a breath, shame appearing in his expression which made Keith feel sick.

"Shiro, I can help, what's wrong?"

"Could you..." Shiro clearly hated asking for help. "Could you help me to the bed, please?"

"Of course." Keith nodded, quickly putting an arm around his friend and taking his weight as he pulled him to his feet and over to the bed.

Shiro shuffled backwards against the headboard.

Keith sat down in front of him, worried eyes pleading for answers. "Shiro?..."

"I don't have anything to tell you yet, I'm still waiting to hear back from the doctor."

Keith looked ready to throw up. "But..."

"But I think it's something to do with my muscles. They're not as strong as they should be."

"Is that how you ended up on the floor?"

Shiro nodded.

Keith bit his lip as he tried to take a deep breath, holding back the terror the best he could.

"What would..." He paused, fiddling with his fingers, refusing to meet his friend's eyes. "If it was that, what would that mean?"

"Keith, I don't know anything for certain, this could just be a bug or something, so don't panic yet, okay? There's nothing to worry about." He noticed how distraught the kid looked and motioned with his hand for Keith to come closer.

Keith shuffled over to sit beside Shiro, lifting up his friend's arm and gently placing it down around his shoulders as he leant into his side.

"I don't want to lose you."

Shiro knew that came from somewhere deep inside the kid. The part of him that remained childlike over the years. Keith may have had to grow up quicker than the majority of kids in the Garrison, but his mental health left a lot to be desired. He looked far younger than his years as Shiro caught the sight of Keith's watery eyes turned desperate in realisation of another potential loss

"Even if it's the worse news, kiddo, that's still a point way off in the future."

Keith suppressed a gasp, trying not to cry.

"That's still too soon."

"Kiddo..."

"I can't lose you." Keith threw himself further against Shiro as the flood gates opened, gripping on for dear life to his friend.

"You're not going to." Shiro stroked a hand through the kid's hair with a sigh.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments keep the chapters coming so please be sure to leave your thoughts :)


	25. Chapter 25

"You sure you should be coming to this?" Shiro asked, turning to look at Keith sitting in the passenger seat.

Keith nodded. "If this was the other way around, you would be there for me. I want to be there for you."

Shiro smiled.

"You're a good, kid."

* * *

Keith was sat in a plastic chair by the wall in the doctor's office. His eyes fell to Shiro who looked terrified sat in front of the desk waiting for the doctor to return with the test results. Looking around, he lifted the bottom of the chair and dragged it forward until it was positioned beside his friend's.

Shiro smirked.

"You're a menace."

Keith shrugged, not really caring.

"Are you sure you don't want to just wait outside?"

"Do you not want me in here, 'cause I can go..."

"No, it's fine. I just..." Shiro took a breath. "I don't know.

"It's up to you, Shiro."

The doctor opening the door halted their conversation.

"Mister. Shirogane."

He walked over and sat down at the desk.

"So, after reviewing all the tests, and the scans, we believe this to be the early signs of muscular dystrophy."

Shiro must know what that meant because his eyes closed for a few seconds.

"Keith, go wait outside." He spoke up, softly.

"But..."

"Please."

Keith nodded. "Sure."

He got up and left the room.

"Okay. So is there anything that can be done?"

"Muscular dystrophy is a progressive disease that gets worse over time, and there's no current cure, but we do have technology that can assist you. We can prescribe electrostimulators to help keep your muscles loose. Cases are different from patient to patient so the treatment will be created around your specific needs, but you need to be aware that inevitably, you will begin to lose muscle strength and mobility will become an issue."

"How fast will it progress?"

"Again, it's a case by case basis, but, from looking at your scans, your particular bout appears aggressive. My best estimate would be, three or four more years at your peak."

"Shit." Shiro scrubbed a hand down his face.

* * *

Out in the waiting room, Keith was looking over the pamphlet rack.

"Fucking dyslexia..." He muttered angrily to himself.

"Can I help you?" One of the staff asked, walking off.

"Yes please. Do any of these say muscular dystrophy?"

"Umm." She looked them over before pulling one from the rack and handing it to him. "Here you go."

"Thank you." He smiled.

"No problem." She walked back over to the reception desk.

The door to the room Shiro was in opened.

Keith quickly folded the pamphlet and shoved it into the pocket of his hoodie. He walked over to Shiro.

"Are you okay? What did he say?"

"Just the usual stuff doctor's say."

Keith furrowed an eyebrow.

"You're okay though, right?"

Shiro was silent for a few seconds as they walked out of the building.

"It's nothing you need to worry about, kiddo."

"Was does that mean?!" Keith pushed.

"Keith, please... just, leave it." Shiro asked, nicely.

He sighed. "Okay."

"Thank you."

* * *

Returning back to the Garrison, Keith shot a text to Pidge asking if she was free.

'Yeah, I'm in my dorm.'

He sprinted over there, knocking on the door.

Pidge opened it.

"Keith, what's wrong?"

"If I let you in on something, you have to promise me that you won't tell anyone, and I mean anyone, not Matt, not your Dad, no one."

"Okay, I promise." She nodded. "Keith, you're scaring me."

He took out the pamphlet and held it out to her.

"I need you to read this to me, please."

"Muscular dystrophy." She looked up at him with a worried expression.

"Just please read it."

Pidge read the pamphlet aloud, Keith's eyes widening in horror with every word. Once finished, he had to sit down on her bed, the room feeling like it was spinning.

"Keith, what is going on?" She asked, softly.

Keith felt tears coming to his eyes as he rushed up from the bed, grabbing the pamphlet and leaving the room.

* * *

Storming into the apartment, he was full-on crying by now, tears having streamed down his cheeks.

"Keith?" Shiro looked terrified as he walked in. "What's wrong? What happened?"

Keith's breathing raced as he closed the gap between them, throwing the pamphlet at Shiro.

"I thought we didn't keep secrets!" His voice broke as he struggled to keep his emotions at bay.

Shiro read the title, his own anger rising to the surface.

"I told you to leave the room, you had no right to invade my privacy by getting that leaflet."

"Well I had to find out somehow, judging by how you were clearly never going to tell me?!" Keith's voice rose.

"Because you are a sixteen-years-old. You don't need to be worrying about this, you need to be focusing on actual shit a sixteen-year-old should be worrying about."

"You can lie to yourself all you want, but you're dumber than you look if you think that I'm not going to be there for you, no matter what happens."

"No, you're not going to do that."

"Why the hell not?!"

"Because you're not going to be my caretaker. I would rather..." Shiro silenced himself, turning away from Keith and taking a breath. "You're not going to do that." He repeated.

"What if I want to?"

"Keith, come on..." He sighed.

"Whatever happens with this disease. However much help you need, I will be there for you, because you won't be a burden. Ever. Not to me. You fucking saved me, some dumb kid who's been six seconds from suicide for most of his life, with no prospects, or anyone that gave a shit about me outside of Pidge. You are everything to me, and I don't think you understand that."

The mention of Keith being previously suicidal had Shiro in tears, and by the end of the speech, he was sobbing harshly, taking a seat on the couch.

Keith sat down next to him, allowing him to let it all out, patiently.

"You deserve a life, Keith." Shiro stated. "Not wasting it looking after me."

"The only reason I have a chance at life at all is because of you, so I will be there for you no matter what."

They were both silent for a full minute before Shiro spoke up.

"Bethlem Myopathy."

"What?"

"That's the specific type I have." He stated.

"It's going to be okay, Shiro."

Shiro shook his head. "No, no it's not."

"Scientists are finding cures for stuff all the time. You never know, they might discover something for this too. I mean, those things are new." He motioned to the electrostimulators in his wrists. "They're inventing amazing devices to help people, there's something for everything."

"Your optimism is admirable."

"You need to be optimistic." Keith paused. "And you need to tell Adam."

Shiro closed his eyes, composure failing him once again.

"I should have waited until after the diagnosis." He mumbled.

"For what?" Keith furrowed an eyebrow.

"To propose."

"Why?"

"Because he didn't sign up for this shit. He shouldn't have to. I can't ruin this many people's lives. I refuse."

"You're not ruining anyone's lives. And Adam loves you so fucking much, Shiro, it's gonna' take a lot more than a disease for him to think any different." Keith stated.

"It's not fair on him."

Keith sighed. "Shiro..."

"I'm gonna' head to bed." He got up from the couch and heading out of the living room.

A tear escaped to trickle down Keith's cheek as his hand came to rest over his mouth, his whole body shaking in anxiety and terror. Before he could breakdown, he left the apartment.

* * *

Opening the door of his and Lance's dorm room, his boyfriend smiled up at him before his eyes widened at the sight of Keith looking so broken.

"Mójol..." He wrapped Keith up in his arms, the two of them tumbling to the floor as his knees gave way.

Heavy, harsh sobs wracked through his as he buried himself against Lance's shoulder.

"Shh, shh, shh..." His boyfriend cood, comforting him softly. "It's okay, Mójol, it's okay..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, comments keep the chapters coming so let me know what you think :)


	26. Chapter 26

 

**1 YEAR LATER**

"You're kidding?! Please tell me this is a joke?!"

Keith heard shouting as he approached the apartment.

"Of course it's not a joke... I have to do this."

"No, you don't, and you know that."

"Fine, I want to do this."

"You want to prove that you're not sick, I'm not stupid, Kashi, I know that's what's fuelling this."

"I am sick, and it's only going to get worse, so I need to do this before it becomes impossible."

"And what if something happens, huh?" Adam's voice shouted. "You think I haven't seen you stumbling around, your muscles giving out on you? What the fuck are you going to do if that shit happens when you're out there? What if something more serious happens? They would never get you back in time, and Sam and Matt aren't doctors, they wouldn't be able to help you."

"Adam..."

"YOU COULD DIE YOU STUPID, STUBBORN, SON OF A BITCH!"

"I have to do this." Shiro repeated.

Harsh sobs followed.

Keith slid down the wall by the door and wrapped his arms around his legs, listening to the sound of Shiro comforting Adam, softly.

"This will be my final mission. After that, I won't be strong enough to embark on another. It's just for two months, then I'll be back."

"There's so much risk."

"I'm already facing something I can't escape, something that's going to take everything from me and never let go. What's a little risk when you know you're going towards something like that?" Shiro sighed deeply. "It's not fair on you, I know that, but I have to be selfish over this, because this is it. This is my farewell to the stars. It's the farewell to my mobility, and I can't pass it up. If you can't stand by and watch me do this, then I understand, and I'm sorry."

There was silence for what felt like the longest of minutes before Adam spoke up.

"I love you too much to let you go so easily. We made a promise a long time ago that we would always look after each other, and be there for each other. I'm not going to let this get in the way of that promise, but I can't support you in this, because you're going to get yourself killed. I don't want to know about the flight plans, I don't want to know about the mission, all I want is to hear the voice of my boyfriend giving me updates that he's okay, because that's all I care about. You are my future husband, and you better get your ass back down to this stupid planet in one piece or I'll kill you myself."

Shiro smirked.

"Okay."

"Now fucking kiss me you piece of shit." Adam smirked.

Keith stood up and walked away from the apartment, wiping away tears from his eyes.

_'I'll never leave you'_

He growled, punching the wall in the corridor before storming off back to his dorm.


	27. Chapter 27

"I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU!" Keith screamed, tears forming as he stormed into the apartment.

Shiro turned to the kid.

"Keith?"

"You told me you'd never leave me. You made me think you..." Keith paused. "You lied to me... You're just like the rest of them."

"What are you-?"

"Kerberos!"

Shiro's eyes widened.

"How do you know about that?"

"I was coming here the other night when I heard you and Adam arguing about it."

"At least give a chance to explain..."

"No! Just go on your stupid mission. I don't care, you're just..."

"Keith!"

The younger boy silenced, head dropping as he seethed in anger, shaking lightly as he tried not to cry.

Shiro closed the gap between himself and Keith before gently resting a hand on his shoulder and offering it a squeeze.

"As annoyed as I am that you eavesdropped all that, I was going to tell you, I was just trying to think of the best way. I should've told you sooner, and I'm sorry I didn't, that's on me."

Keith plopped himself down on Shiro's couch before his eyes rose to find those of his mentor's. He had calmed down significantly.

"Shiro... I didn't mean what I said. I do care. I should never have said that, I..."

"It's okay. You're upset, and you have every right to be."

"I just... what am I gonna' do here? Everyone hates me but you."

"You have Adam, Lance, Pidge, Hunk."

"But they're not you!" Keith sighed.

"I'll be back before you know it, kiddo."

"I don't want to lose you too."

"Nothing's gonna' happen, it's just two months and then I'll be back here for you to annoy in no time."

Keith smiled a little at that.

"Now you should head back to your dorm, you've already got two strikes this term, the last thing you need is to be caught wandering the corridors after hours."

"Like they'd ever catch me." The younger boy smirked, mischievously, standing up from the couch.

"Keith..."

"Fine, I'll be careful."

"Everything will be fine, I promise." Shiro smiled, reassuringly.

Keith tried to hold his composure for a few seconds before throwing himself at Shiro's midsection, hugging him.

Momentarily taken aback by the show of affection, Shiro smiled before wrapping an arm around the cadet.

"What brought this on?"

Keith pulled away and shrugged his shoulders with a smirk before rushing off out of the dorm.

Shiro laughed, fondly.

* * *

As Lance went to grab Keith's sports bra for him, he noticed something stuffed under a pile of socks and boxers, furrowing an eyebrow. Reaching down, he took out the soft thing.

It was a small Beanie Babies hippo.

"Who's this?"

Keith turned to him.

"What?"

Upon noticing the toy in his boyfriend's hands, he looked a little paler.

"Oh that's, uhh, it's nothing."

"Why was it right at the bottom of the drawer? Do you not want it out so you can see it?"

Keith looked extremely resistant for some reason.

"I don't want to." His voice was small.

"Why?"

"I don't know."

Lance took a seat next to Keith an gently stroked his cheek.

"What's scaring you, babe?"

"It's stupid."

"Nothing's stupid if it's making you upset."

"I don't know, I just... I've always been scared to let people see it because they could ruin him, or steal him, and he's the only thing I have."

Lance had slowly been taking more notice about the sheer lack of items Keith's side of the dorm housed. Aside from the red and white hoodie and the photos frames, there wasn't a single possession. He knew that kids from the system commonly didn't have much to their name, but Keith took that to a new extreme. His boyfriend barely had any clothes, meaning that Pidge kept giving him her hand-me-downs, and nothing outside of a single pair of shoes that had already seen better days before he'd even began at the Garrison. He knew the next time he visited Cuba exactly the kinds of decorations he would bring back to decorate his boyfriend's space. Hopefully Keith would appreciate stuff that was a little more on the colourful side.

"It was Ryan and his parents." Keith spoke up. "The few things I did have from other placements, they just destroyed in punishment for stuff I hadn't even done."

"That's awful."

"I had to make sure he was hidden because he's the last physical connection I have with my Dad. He bought him for me when I was little. I was always terrified that Ryan would find him and tear him apart."

"Well I'm glad he survived." Lance smiled, placing the little hippo down next to the photo frames on Keith's sidetable.

* * *

**1 MONTH LATER**

_"The Galaxy Garrison mission to the distant moon of Kerberos is missing; and all crew members are believed to be dead. The Galaxy Garrison has said that the crash was presumably caused by pilot error. It is indeed a sad day for..."_

Keith threw the remote at the projection screen causing the broadcast to close before letting out a roar of gut-wrenching pain. His fist clenched before he spoke up.

"SHIRO IS THE GREATEST PILOT IN THE GARRISON'S HISTORY! HE TAUGHT ME EVERYTHING I KNOW. HOW DARE THEY SAY IT WAS PILOT ERROR!"

Adam was still struggling to wrap his head around what he'd just heard.

"He wouldn't make a mistake like that. He couldn't. He's the best pilot I've ever seen. You know how good he is, he's your co-pilot."

"I know."

"Then how can they say that?! How can they make up those lies about him!"

The younger boy became more and more worked up as he began to shake heavily in emotional distress.

"Keith, hey..."

Adam wrapped his arms around him and pulled the boy into a tight embrace.

Keith struck against his chest, fighting for release, tears streaming down his cheeks as he begged and pleaded for the broadcast to be false, but he knew it was not.

Adam was crying too now as he rested his head atop Keith's.

"He said he'd never leave me. He can't be gone... I can't lose someone else. He's the only family I have left..."

"I know..." Adam's voice wobbled as he tried his damnedest to stay strong.

"He..." Keith broke down, tears turning to sobs as he buried himself against Adam's chest.

Adam tightened his grip on the boy, hugging him impossibly close.

"It's okay..."

"No it's not..." Keith struggled.

"Nothing's impossible, right? And if everyone could pull off something insane like this, it would be Shiro."

"So what do we do?" The younger boy asked, looking up to meet Adam's gaze.

"We don't give up hope on him, and we keep going. Shiro would want you to be strong, Keith. He believed in you."

Keith's expression turned nervous.

"You never know, maybe you'll be the one to find him."

The younger boy looked deep in thought before he wiped away tears with the sleeve of the red and white hoodie Shiro had bought him for his birthday. Untangling himself from Adam's embrace, he got up from the couch before rushing out of the room.

"Where are you going?" Adam asked after him.

"Just leave me alone..."

* * *

Walking down the hallway, Lance furrowed an eyebrow as he saw so many extremely emotional cadets almost in tears.

Something had happened.

_"I can't believe it... they're gone."   "Hey, did you hear about the Kerberos mission?"   "Commander Holt and Officer Shirogane..."_

Lance's eyes widened as he quickly rushed to his phone for news. Seeing the main headline, he nearly threw up.

"Oh my god..."

Raised voices down the hallway grabbed his attention.

"...guess he wasn't as good of a pilot as everyone said he was."

He heard a loud slam.

Turning the corner, Lance found Keith holding Griffin against the wall.

"You wanna' say that again?!" Keith screamed.

"Keith!" He approached, calmly.

Griffin looked dazed.

"Keith..." Lance slowly put a hand on his boyfriend's shoulder in an attempt to not spook him. "He isn't worth this."

Keith didn't relent, teeth clenched as he continued to attract a crowd.

Lance looked scornfully at those choosing to stop and stare at the grief-filled explosion.

He sighed, using another tactic.

"Shiro wouldn't want this."

Keith stilled.

"If you get yourself kicked out then everything he did would've been for nothing, and I'm sure he means more to you than that."

His boyfriend growled, releasing his grip on Griffin and slamming his fist harshly into the wall beside the tormentor's head.

"Walk away from me."

Griffin scowled but did leave.

Keith turned to the crowd. "Show's over you pathetic fuck's!" He shouted before heading off towards the dorms.

"Wait up!" Lance called after him.

"Leave me alone."

"No. Not when you're like this."

"I'm fine."

"No, you're not. You're lashing out. This is what you do when you're upset but don't want anyone to know. You need to talk to someone about this."

"Well my therapist and my mentor just died. I'm physically running out of people."

"You have me." Lance stated, softly.

"For how long? Shiro told me he'd always be there for me, and now he's dead. So maybe it's just me. Maybe I'm the link here." Keith took a breath. "I have to go and find Pidge." He walked off.

* * *

Reaching Pidge's dorm, he knocked.

As the door opened, it was her roommate.

"She's not here, her Mom came and picked her up an hour ago."

**An hour ago.**

_Why was he even surprised that he had to find about this so late, through a news broadcast..._

* * *

'Came to see you but your roommate told me you'd gone home. I really want to talk to you so call me, or text me, whichever is best for you. Just please do. Love you, Pigeon.' Keith text as he made his way back to the apartment, wiping tears from his eyes with the cuff of his hoodie.

Scanning his keycard on the door, it opened with a swish as he stepped inside.

His eyes tracked to Adam, curled up on the couch, the news channel playing away about the mission.

Keith walked over and shuffled into the small gap beside him, wrapping his arms around his friend in offered reassurance and comfort.

Adam didn't respond for a few minutes he freed his arm from under Keith and wrapped it around the boy, holding his close. He looked to Keith.

"Sorry... Sorry..." He sniffled. "I should be the one looking after you."

"No you don't. We look after each other."

Adam smiled tearfully, pulling Keith even closer, ruffling a hand through his hair.

"Yes we do." He paused. "We're going to get through this, okay?"

Keith nodded.

"We'll get through this."

* * *

The funerals of Shiro, Sam, and Matt were held on a Garrison-wide day of mourning.

Adam had taken Keith shopping to get him something to wear. The kid had been almost distraught, his anxiety terrifying him about the concept of letting Shiro down by not even being able to honour him properly by wearing the right clothes for the funeral. Although Keith had been adamantly against the idea of him spending money, the kid had eventually caved.

So there they were, sat in the front row of seats alongside Admiral Sanda, Commander Iverson, the other higher-ups of the Garrison, Mrs. Holt, and Pidge.

The rest of the Garrison teaching staff and Cadets were stood a distance behind, hats off and heads lowered as they watched on.

The flags flew at half mast, as they had been since the news broke. The Garrison had been almost ghostlike, all energy seeming to have been zapped from it's walls, and the students inside. Everyone was saddened, and lessons had been cancelled. Everyone was feeling the effects of the disaster.

Looking down at Keith, the kid looked ready to throw up at any second, slumped small in the seat as if trying to make himself invisible.

Adam reached over and gently took Keith's hand in his own, not letting go in a show of support.

The hand was shaking lightly but Adam began to stroke his thumb against it in reassurance.

"It's okay, Keith." He whispered.

* * *

Empty coffins, that was what Keith was currently looking at as he, Adam, Mrs. Holt, and Pidge were asked to step forward to throw dirt into the grave.

He felt no connection with anything that was happening because he knew that Shiro, the man who had literally saved him, was millions of miles away, not resting in the coffin sat at the base of the hole before him. The Garrison had refused to give any detail on what had happened, but the general consensus was that the ship had come into problems and blown up, meaning that if that was the case, Shiro was nothing more than particles floating around amongst the stars.

It was sorta' poetic.

A man who set out to say goodbye to the stars one last time before losing his mobility now finding himself able to travel around the galaxy for eternity.

The churning sickness in his stomach did not relent as he tightened his grip on Adam's hand, not caring that literally everyone from the Garrison could see. He didn't want to be here. This was just a show. A simple display to try and provide some closure to thousands of students who had no business feeling anything. Barely any of them would even know Shiro. The class size for his piloting class was only about twenty, and his and Adam's peers from their years at the Garrison were long graduated and off with their own careers.

Keith tried to keep his anger contained as he remembered walking around the corridors hearing the sounds of Cadets crying, pretending that they were sharing in his grief.

They were full of shit.

They didn't know him.

He wasn't anything to them.

Shiro was everything to him.

And he was gone.

* * *

After the service ended, Keith looked around to find Pidge, noticing her walking out with Admiral Sanda. He went to follow her but was blocked by Mrs. Holt.

"Umm..." He didn't know what to say. "I'm sorry about Matt and Sam, they were..."

"Stay away from my daughter." Mrs. Holt interrupted.

Keith flinched.

"What?" His voice shook.

"Katie needs her Mother right now, not you. The last thing she needs is you dragging her into trouble."

"I wouldn't..."

"Don't think I don't know about your track history. If you're going to fall off the deep end, which you will, I will be damned if I let you cause my daughter to do the same."

"She's my sister and I care about her. I..." He stumbled.

"You are not her brother, Matt was. You are not a part of this family, now leave us alone." Mrs. Holt walked off.

Keith was left speechless and still.

Adam walked over, having witnessed all of it.

"Keith..." He spoke softly, wrapping his arms around the kid just as Keith broke down, burying himself against his chest. "It's okay, buddy. It's okay..."

* * *

Lying curled up on his bed, Keith felt empty.

Lance, who was sat on the floor leaning back against the frame of his boyfriend's bed, slowly reached up a hand.

He left it there for a few minutes before soft fingers gently took hold, interlinking them with a squeeze.

"I've had to watch four members of my family be lowered into the ground..." Keith's wrecked voice spoke up. "I don't... I can't get the image out of my head. It's all I can think about. Every time I close my eyes I'm seven-years-old and sitting sobbing on Mrs. Rands' lap."

"Was she your social worker?"

Keith nodded.

“She got permanently assigned to me the day he died. My Dad was gone, my house was destroyed, and I'd lost nearly every possession I'd ever owned. It was as if someone had factory reset my life." Keith scrubbed a hand down his face before continuing. "Mrs. Rands took me back to her house. She looked after me for a couple of weeks until they found a foster placement. I actually really liked living with her, it was the nicest environment I lived in back then. When the placements started getting worse, I would just sneak out and go visit her. She ended up giving me my own key to her place so I could let myself in. Mrs. Rands decided this after she came home once during a torrential rainstorm to find me drenched through on the doorstep. It was funny 'cause Mrs. Rands would always forget that she'd given me a key so I would see her creeping towards the living room with a baseball bat thinking it was an intruder, but no, it was just me. She also taught me how to cook the basics, and helped me with my homework, signed and paid for any field trips the schools I attended organised, regardless of how many times I told her that she shouldn't be spending money on me. She was genuinely like a Mom to me."

"She sounds lovely." Lance smiled. "You should call her, I'm sure she'd like to hear from you."

Keith nodded.

"Maybe."


	28. Chapter 28

Keith unlocked the door to the apartment to find the lights out. Walking inside, he found a curled up bundle on the couch.

Adam had tear tracks down his cheeks as he breathed lightly in long-needed sleep.

Keith picked up the blanket from the chair and gently draped it over his friend before taking a seat with his back against the couch.

* * *

Adam stirred on the couch. He reached out for his glasses before jumping slightly as he noticed Keith.

"Keith."

"Hi." He smiled. "How are you feeling?"

Adam sighed. "I don't even know." He rose to sit up. "His jacket is still on the back of that chair. The coffee mug he used the morning of the launch is still sat in the sink. The birthday card he got me is lying on his sidetable ready to sign and give to me when he got back from Kerberos. There is so much Kashi in every single detail of this place that it hurts to even be here.

Keith sat down on the other side of the couch, scrunching his legs to his chest to fit.

"And regardless of how stupid it sounds, I feel partially responsible for this. I had my doubts, and I ended up being right, so now I just... I don't know. 'Cause part of my brain is saying 'why did you let him go?', but the other is saying 'it wasn't your place to decide what he could or couldn't do. Kashi knew the risks and he did it anyway’, and here we are."

"I'm sorry, Adam."

"You lost him too, bud."

"I know, but you knew him longer, and he was your fiancé."

Adam fiddled with the ring on his finger.

"I just want him back." He fought back tears. "It was hard enough in an empty bed when he was up there, it's impossible knowing that he's never coming back. I just feel empty. I feel like I lost a part of myself."

"I know." Keith replied softly.

* * *

Walking back to their dorm, Keith furrowed an eyebrow as he noticed a piece of paper taped to the door.

' **Shiro's Bitch** ' was written at the top in thick black lettering with a photo of Keith when he was younger, and more feminine stuck below along with the words 'have you met Molly?'

Looking around, he noticed that he entirety of the dorm block was covered in them.

"Where did you even get that fucking picture?" He growled under his breath, ripping the poster from the door and scrunching it up.

He heard laughter from down the hallway and turned to see Griffin.

"Let me guess, this was you..."

Griffin shrugged.

"You've got nothing on me."

Keith scoffed. "You're such a piece of shit."

"At least I'm not a trannie..."

Keith's eyes widened as he felt his fist clenching.

"The fuck did you just call me?!"

"You heard me."

"Yeah, I did, and you know what, sure, I'm trans, what's your problem?"

"My problem is you, Molly. Why the fuck should you be allowed to be in the guy's dorms?"

"Oh so let me get this straight. You're angry at me for being trans because I'm allowed to be in a dorm block of my own gender, but you're not allowed to be a perv and share a dorm with the girls in the block over? Did I get that right?"

"That's not what I said."

"Doesn't matter, it's still what you actually think."

"You know nothing about me."

"And you think you knew everything about me." Keith held up the poster. "My name is Keith Kogane, by the way. I can spell the surname out for you if you get confused."

"Molly Jacobs."

Keith scoffed.

"I don't answer to that name, and you should have some fucking respect about it." He paused, shaking his head. "What is wrong with you? Shiro is dead; how dare you even say his name?"

"Shiro was a salesman and nothing more, just a poster boy offering fake dreams to classrooms full of children across the state."

"He is a hero."

Griffin smirked.

Keith walked over to the other wall as he caught sight of something.

' **TAKASHI SHIRO-GONE** \- Why The Mission Was Bound To Fail With Shirogane As The Pilot  & Other Ways In Which He Was A **FAKE** '

"Take these down." Keith sneered.

"No."

"You have the photo of Molly, you can make new ones, just take down any that mention Shiro."

"And why the fuck would I do that?"

"Because Shiro has a fiancé, and if you have any ounce of humanity you would understand that the last thing Adam needs to see is something like this covering the Garrison."

Griffin looked around before nodding. "Fine..."

"Why did you even do this in the first place? Is this how you get your kicks, being a transphobic asshole and tormenting people who are grieving losing members of their family."

"They weren't your family."

"Don't you dare tell me what they were!" Keith shouted before his eyes widened at his own use of past tense. He immediately felt sick to the pit of his stomach, diving into the bathroom and promptly throwing up into the bowl.

The door opened.

"Leave... me... alone..." He stated through deep breaths, head dangling by his chest in exhaustion.

Griffin snapped a picture on his phone.

"See you around, freak." He grinned. "Oh, and for what it's worth, you're in the wrong bathroom. Molly." And with that, he left, the door closing definitively behind him.


	29. Chapter 29

One week later, and Adam decided that it was time to listen to the internal Shiro in his head and actually stop moping around. He'd gotten himself dressed in his instructor's uniform, had a cup of coffee, and headed down to Keith and Lance's dorm, knocking on it upon arrival.

As the door swished open, he was met with a beaming smile.

"Adam!" Keith wrapped his arms around him.

"Hey, kiddo." Adam smiled, returning the hug. "How'd you fancy a run in the simulator with your boyfriend?"

A light blush came to the kid's cheeks. "Adam..." He groaned, quietly.

Laughter from inside the room could be heard before Lance also came to the door, half-dressed between pyjamas and cadet uniform.

"Aww, you made him embarrassed." He teased.

Keith hit Lance lightly on the arm.

"No I'm not."

"Sureeee." Lance grinned. "Anyway, my loving boyfriend over here has a test this morning."

Adam's eyes widened. "Really?"

Keith nodded.

"In what?"

"Physics."

"Have you studied?"

Keith scoffed. "What do you think?"

"Keith..."

"Do you really think I was remotely interested in this test after everything that's happened?!"

"I know it's hard, but..."

"But what?"

"But we have to move on with our lives."

"Says the one who's been lying in the dark on his couch for the past week and a half."

"Keith, stop, this isn't you saying this." Lance interrupted.

Keith silenced, taking a breath. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean that. I..."

"It's all true though. I should've been there for you more, and I apologise. Shiro would have been. I let you down, and I apologise."

"No, Adam, you didn't. I promise you didn't. You and Lance, you've been there for me more than you can imagine, especially after Pidge."

Adam sighed. "Has she still not spoken to you?"

"Her Dad and brother just died, and her Mom made it very well known that I'm to have nothing to do with her. I don't think I'm going to be getting any form of communication from her end in a while."

"Have you tried talking to her?"

"I sent a few texts over checking how she's doing, but I haven't gotten any replies."

"I'm sure she'll come around once her head's in a better place." Lance reassured.

"I hope so."

Adam wrapped an arm around Keith's shoulders.

"You are going to ace this exam, okay? You could do this shit with your eyes closed. Just remember to listen to the question properly and don't rush into answering anything before you know exactly what you have to do."

Keith nodded.

"I'm proud of you, Keith, and Shiro would be too."

Keith smiled tearfully.

"Thanks, Adam."

"No problem, kiddo. Now go on, you don't want to be late."

He nodded before walking off down the hallway.


End file.
